Serpentinization

Chimney Formation

Sampling Technology

Microbial Habitat

Fluid Chemistry

The Lost City 2005 Explorers

Dr. Robert Ballard
University of Rhode Island
Co-Chief Scientist
ship-based

Dr. Robert D. Ballard is President of the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut and Director of the Institute for Archaeological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. He is probably best known for his 1985 discovery of the RMS Titanic. At the Institute for Exploration's Challenge of the Deep exhibit hall in Mystic, Connecticut, as well as with his Jason Foundation for Education, Ballard hopes to inspire young people to pursue learning in science, math, and technology through exploration and discovery.

Dr. Ballard has received numerous awards. Most recently he was awarded the National Humanities Medal from President Bush. He is an explorer-in-residence with National Geographic Society, chief scientist and founder of the Jason Foundation for Education. He is a member of the Presidential Commission on Ocean Policy and also a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's (NOAA) Science Advisory Board.

This past summer Dr. Ballard used satellite and internet technologies to bring thousands of students around the world into direct contact with his team while on a return expedition to Titanic. In his presentation today, Dr. Ballard will show stunning visual imagery of his most recent work in deep water archaeology and discuss the science of telepresence.

Deborah Kelley, PhD
Professor
University of Washington
Co-Chief Scientist
shore-based

Dr. Deborah Kelley, is an associate professor in the School of Oceanography and Astrobiology program at the University of Washington, where she specializes in investigation of seafloor hydrothermal systems and geobiological processes. She has been involved in the discovery of numerous hydrothermal fields, which most recently includes that of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field and was Co-Chief scientist during the Alvin-ABE 2003 expedition to first investigate this site in detail. Dr. Kelley's work currently focuses on examination of the linkages between geological and biological processes in systems supported by underwater volcanoes. She is developing prototype in situ microbial incubators that are yielding new insights into the conditions under which life thrives, survives and expires in extreme black smoker environments. Kelley is also helping to develop a new submarine fiber-optic cabled underwater observatory called "NEPTUNE " that will revolutionize how we interact with Earth and it's oceans. She routinely uses the human-occupied submersible Alvin and robotic vehicles Jason, ROPOS, and Tiburon, and has been co-chief and chief scientist on numerous expeditions. She is a member of the Extreme Environments working group at the University of Washington, and greatly enjoys working with undergraduate and graduate students.

John A. Baross, PhD
Professor
University of Washington
School of Oceanography
shore-based

John A. Baross, Professor of Oceanography and the Astrobiology Program at the University of Washington specializes in the ecology, physiology, and taxonomy of microorganisms from hydrothermal vent environments, and the use of biochemical and molecular methods to detect, quantify, and classify the same. John has particular interests in the microbial ecology of extreme environments, the biotechnological applications of microorganisms that grow in extreme environments, astrobiology, and in the significance of submarine hydrothermal vent environments for the origin and evolution of life. The novel environment and microbes present at Lost City are of great interest to John and his laboratory group. Samples recovered from this field offer potential for new discoveries and insights into life in the extreme environments of hydrothermal vents.

Alex Bradley
Graduate Student
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
shore-based

Alex Bradley is currently working on his PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after completing his AB in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard in 1998. His studies focus on the use of lipid biomarkers in modern and ancient hydrothermal systems as tools for reconstructing microbial ecology and carbon cycling. Other interests include the use of organic chemistry for reconstructing major biogeochemical events in Earth history and understanding the genetic basis of lipid biomarker synthesis.

Billy Brazelton
Graduate Student
University of Washington
ship-based

Billy is a graduate student studying the genetic and ecological relationships among the microbes inhabiting the chimneys and fluids of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field. Specifically, he will be looking at the possible roles of methanogenic and methanotrophic Archaea in carbon and energy cycling and how these processes interact with the overall geochemical system of Lost City.

Billy received his B.S.in Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota in 2002. He completed his master's research on the microbiological diversity of Lost City in 2005 and is continuing as a Ph.D. candidate with advisor Dr. John Baross.

Kate Buckman
Graduate Student
WHOI/MIT Joint Program in Oceanography
ship-based

Kate recieved a BA in Biological Sciences from Smith College (Northampton, MA) in 2001. During her undergraduate career she learned to SCUBA dive and spent her summers surveying reef fish populations and teaching about coral reef ecology in Belize. Before returning to school Kate worked as a scientist for the Sea Education Association (Woods Hole, MA) and as a technician at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She is currently a second year graduate student in Biological Oceanography. Kate is interested in population genetics and ecology of hydrothermal vent organisms, with a particular interest in vent fish populations. She has participated in multiple expeditions to vent communities in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Dave Butterfield
Chemical Oceanographer
JISAO Program, University of Washington
NOAA Vents Program, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory - Seattle, Washington

Dave Butterfield received a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and German from Portland State University, served two years in the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa, and received a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the University of Washington. His primary research interests concern the interaction of seawater with the solid crust in volcanic hydrothermal systems. Topics of special interest include the effects of boiling on hydrothermal fluids, role of magmatic volatiles in hydrothermal systems, evolution of hydrothermal systems over time, effects of volcanic eruptions, and the role of fluid chemistry in microbial ecology. Dave has sailed on 32 submersible expeditions to hydrothermal sites on the Juan de Fuca ridge, Southern East Pacific Rise, Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Mariana volcanic arc, and Kermadec volcanic arc.

Alicia Caporaso
PhD student
University of Rhode Island

Alicia received her BS in Interdisciplinary Engineering, a BA in Anthropology, and a MA in Anthropology from the University of Nebraska. She is registered professional archaeologist and is currently a PhD student in Archaeological Oceanography under the direction of Dr. Robert Ballard.

Alicia’s major areas of research are in historical archaeology, primarily the late eighteenth through the early twentieth centuries. Currently, she is working on projects at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve and several National Parks within the Northeast United States. She is also working with Dr. Ballard exploring ways that iron shipwrecks can be preserved underwater.

Dwight F. Coleman
Director of Research
Institute for Exploration
Mystic Aquarium
ship-based

Dr. Dwight F. Coleman is the Director of Research for the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. He is also an Assistant Marine Research Scientist at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. He is responsible for leading oceanographic expeditions to survey underwater archaeological sites. He has participated in or led more than 20 oceanographic research cruises, including 10 expeditions for Dr. Robert Ballard and the team from the Institute for Exploration.

Most notable among the recent expeditions are the return to Titanic in June 2004, the search for John F. Kennedy's PT-109 in May 2002; several expeditions to map and document historical shipwrecks in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Lake Huron; and multiple missions to the Black Sea off Turkey and Bulgaria to map the undersea geology and explore, document, and sample well-preserved ships of antiquity. He was previously a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Woods Hole, Mass., and a support scientist at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I.

Dr. Coleman has a bachelor's degree in geology from the University of New Hampshire and master's and doctoral degrees in marine geology and geophysics from the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography.

Adelie Delacour
Graduate Student
Department of Earth Sciences
ETH-Zurich, Switzerland
shore-based

Adelie Delacour completed her undergraduate studies in France and is now a graduate student at the Department of Earth Sciences, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland. She is a petrologist and geochemist working mainly on the basement rocks of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field. She is conducting isotopic analyses and characterization of volatiles to understand the uplift and alteration history of the basement rocks of the Atlantis Massif; the links between serpentinization and microbial activity and how these processes contribute to the hydrothermal activity and the formation of Lost City.

Mike Durbin

Dr. Durbin received his undergraduate degree from Texas A & M University and his Ph.D. from University of Texas at Dallas, where he specialized in communications, electronics and mathematics. He currently is a telecommunications engineer for MCI in Dallas Texas. MCI is providing the satellite and terrestrial interconnect from the ship to the University of Rhode Island.

One of Mike's many jobs is to figure out just what type of equipment is needed to get the broadcast accomplished. He tabulates the amount of power, the height of the signal antennas, and the type of satellite needed to cover the "footprint," or receiving area. During the actual broadcasts he makes sure that all the communications are operational, that the data is moving back and forth over satellite link. Much of his time is spent in earth stations, where he monitors the various technologies. Mike and Bob Ballard have known each other since the first JASON project in 1989. Mike's off time is spent with his horses which are at his ranch in Texas. Dr. of Technology, as he is called, has some very technical horses.

Mitchell Elend
Oceanographer
University of Washington
shore-based

Mitchell Elend is with the School of Oceanography's Hydrothermal Working Group at the University of Washington. He works with the video and still imagery collected by submersibles and remotely operated submarines. His past works include image mosaics of hydrothermal vent structures. He is interested in making three-dimensional image maps of hydrothermal vent fields and is working on one such map for the Mothra vent field on the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. He is looking forward to seeing the imagery collected by Hercules at the Lost City this summer.

Gretchen L. Früh-Green
Petrologist and Geochemist
Department of Earth Sciences
ETH-Zurich, Switzerland
shore-based

Gretchen Früh-Green received a BA in Geology from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1979 and then moved to Switzerland where she received a PhD in Earth Sciences at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH) in 1987. She is currently a senior research scientist at the ETH and is involved in petrological and geochemical studies of the alteration of the oceanic crust. She is particularly interested in the geological, geochemical and biological consequences of serpentinization in marine environments - a process involving the interaction of seawater with upper mantle rocks. She has participated on a number of seagoing research cruises and was involved in the discovery studies of the serpentinite-hosted Lost City hydrothermal system. By using petrological and stable isotope geochemical methods, Gretchen is working with the other members of the science team to understand the uplift and alteration history of the Atlantis Massif and to determine what tectonic processes and reactions in the underlying upper mantle rocks control fluid flow and fluid chemistry, and how these fluids support microbial activity at Lost City.

Peter Girguis, PhD
Assistant Professor
Harvard University
Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology
shore-based

Peter Girguis grew up in Los Angeles and has always been entranced by the oceans. He received his B.Sc. from the UCLA and his Ph.D. from U.C. Santa Barbara. He was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), and is currently an assistant professor in Harvard University's Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology. His research focuses on microbial physiology and the role that autotrophic microbes play in deep ocean carbon and nitrogen cycling. His research also focuses on developing new sensors for use in the deep oceans and he is currently developing several new instruments for use at hydrothermal vents. In his spare time, Peter loves to resurrect dead furniture.

Deborah Glickson
Graduate Student
University of Washington
shore-based

Deborah Glickson is a PhD student in Marine Geology at the University of Washington. Her work focuses on how magmatic, tectonic, and hydrothermal processes interact to develop and change the vigorously venting hydrothermal fields of the central Endeavour Segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge.

Todd Gregory
Mechanical Engineer and Pilot
ship-based

Todd is affiliated with University of Rhode Island's Institute for Archeological Oceanography and the Institute for Exploration (IFE).Working in concert with Jim Newman of Woods Hole Marine Systems, Inc., Todd was the mechanical designer of IFE's most recent remotely operated vehicle, Hercules. This summer, he will pilot the IFE vehicles and be responsible for their mechanical and hydraulic systems.

Nicholas W. Hayman
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences
Duke University
shore-based

Nick Hayman is a geologist who has worked in both submarine and on-land settings. Interested in the faulting process, Nick uses structural geology and other techniques to understand the slip history of faults. A central interest is the role of hydrothermal fluids in creating the textures and mineralogy observed in rocks sampled from fault zones. By combining data from the rock record with geologic maps, submersible observations, and rock mechanics theory, the study of faults and fault rocks is expected to address current problems about the oceanic lithosphere, seafloor spreading, and hydrothermal fluid flow.

Jonathan Howland
Senior Engineer
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Adjunct Engineer
Institute for Exploration
ship-based

Jonathan Howland has been working with underwater systems for 22 years, with a primary focus on mapping and imaging systems. In recent years, he has become involved in remotely operated vehicle control system development. Along with others, he developed the software systems that control Hercules and Argus, the camera and processing systems that are used for photomosaics, and the logging systems that collect all of the digital data.

Christopher Jazwa
URI Graduate Student

Chris will begin graduate studies at the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island this fall in the Archaeological Oceanography program. He received his B.S. in May of 2005 in Physics and Anthropology from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California. This is Chris's first oceanographic expedition and he will be working in the control van on data management. His previous archaeological experience focused on coastal hunter gatherer societies and in the future, he hopes to extend these studies underwater.

Jeff Karson
Professor of Geology
Division of Earth & Ocean Sciences
Duke University- Durham, NC
shore-based

With a background in field-oriented structural geology, Jeff Karson investigates tectonic processes in a range of marine and terrestrial environments that are related to seafloor spreading processes. He uses land-based studies in ophiolites (on-land exposures of oceanic crust), continental rifts, and Iceland to investigate the details of faulting and magmatism in extensional terrains. Direct observations and sampling of cross sections of the oceanic crust exposed along major fault scarps ("tectonic windows") in both fast-spreading crust of the Pacific and slow-spreading crust of the Atlantic document the diverse architecture of crust created in different spreading environments. This type of information is the key to understanding tectonic processes at mid-ocean ridge spreading centers. Karson participated in two previous investigations of the Atlantis Massif and Lost City Vent Site where he and his students have focused on the structure and geologic history of the basement rocks that host this unusual vent site.

Ben Larson
Graduate Student
shore-based

Ben Larson is currently working on his PhD at the University of Washington in Marvin Lilley's research group after completing his BS in chemistry at Ohio State University. His research focuses on the development and use of an in-situ conductivity sensor for making time series measurements in high temperature vent fluid in order to understand the chemical evolution of hydrothermal fluids.

Marvin Lilley
Professor
University of Washington
School of Oceanography
shore-based

Marv received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University and joined the University of Washington in 1984. His research interests include the study of volatiles in hydrothermal systems. A particular interest is the temporal variability in hydrothermal fluid chemistry resulting from seismic activity and phase separation. Another research focus is the development of instruments for in-situ chemical measurements in hydrothermal fluids. Marv has participated in numerous cruises involving submersibles and ROV's to study hydrothermal systems including the discovery cruise to the Galapagos in 1977.

Minhui Lin
Graduate Student
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
shore-based

Min is an incoming graduate student with research interest in hydrothermal vent geomicrobiology. Her previous studies focused on the biodiversity of methanotrophs and methanogens in the Lost City Hydrothermal Vent field by surveying variations in gene sequences encoding a key enzyme of methanogenesis and methane oxidation.

Min received her bachelors degrees in Biology and Computer Science from the University of Washington in 2004, and is returning to the Seattle campus to work with Drs. Deb Kelley and John Baross. Her graduate research will focus on the linkages between environmental parameters and microbial processes at diffuse hydrothermal vents.

Brooke Love
UW Graduate Student

Brooke Love is a student at the University of Washington working with Marv Lilley on developing an in-situ carbon dioxide sensor for use in hydrothermal vents. She did her undergraduate work in geology at Stanford University, and served in the Peace Corps in West Africa. She returned to do additional work in chemistry at Cal Poly before coming to Seattle.

Kristin Ludwig
Graduate Student
University of Washington
shore-based

Kris Ludwig is currently working on her PhD in marine geology at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the formation and evolution of the carbonate chimneys at the Lost City Hydrothermal Field. Kris earned her BS in Earth Systems at Stanford University in 1999 and worked for the US Antarctic Program before beginning her graduate studies. She became interested in deep sea science during high school, as a participant in the 1993 JASON Project expedition.

Catalina Martinez
Expedition Coordinator
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration
ship-based

As a scientist for NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration (OE), Catalina wears many hats. Her work primarily consists of project management, from the grant proposal submission stage, through the execution of projects. Catalina coordinates several major expeditions each year, providing operational support, and leading an OE team to assist with data management and Web product development for the NOAA Ocean Explorer Web site. Catalina is also part of the OE Outreach and Education team, coordinating and implementing various direct, as well as virtual efforts associated with OE sponsored expeditions. Ms. Martinez joined OE as a Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Sea Grant Fellow in 2002, and was hired on after the Fellowship ended. She completed a master's degree in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island (URI) Graduate School of Oceanography in 2000, and received a second master's degree in marine affairs from URI in 2002. Catalina recently moved back to RI to implement a very exciting collaboration between NOAA OE and the Sea Research Foundation's Institute for Exploration (IFE) developed through a Joint Project Agreement in 2004. This season, Catalina is coordinating two back-to-back expeditions on board the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown in which the IFE ROV's Hercules and Argus will be utilized. The first leg of the expedition will revisit the Lost City hydrothermal vent fields, and the focus of the second leg (called Deep Atlantic Stepping Stones) is to explore a group of seamounts in the eastern North Atlantic.

Mausmi Mehta
Graduate Student
University of Washington
shore-based

Mausmi Mehta is currently working on her PhD in Biological Oceanography at the University of Washington. She completed her BS in Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the microbial nitrogen cycle in hydrothermal vent habitats located on the Juan de Fuca Ridge and the Lost City Hydrothermal Field. Specifically she studies biological nitrogen fixation and the genes and microorganisms that are involved in converting nitrogen gas to ammonia.

Jimmy Moore
URI Graduate Student
ship-based

Jimmy grew up in Abingdon, VA and received his bachelor's degree in Marine Science from Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida in 2000. He got an MA in Nautical Archaeology from East Carolina University in 2003. Jimmy's participated in surveying shipwreck sites around St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and near Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. He also participated in the excavating and surveying of the steamboat Montana in St. Charles, Missouri. During the summer of 2004, Jimmy aided C & C Technologies, the Minerals Management Service, and NOAA in surveying deep water WWII era shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico. During the Lost City expedition, Jimmy will be trained as a navigator and is currently working towards his Ph.D. in Archaeological Oceanography.

Ko-ichi Nakamura
Senior scientist (Marine geology and chemistry)
National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST)
Institute of Geology and Geoinformation, Japan

Ko-ichi Nakamura had been engaged in marine geological research for a quarter century at the Geological Survey of Japan, which merged with the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in 2001. He started studying redox of hydrothermal fluid by electrodes after he found the first backarc hydrothermalism in the Okinawa Trough with Peter Halbach. He has been sailing with VENTS program personnel since 1993 and with Marvin Lilley and other UW people since 1998 mainly in the Pacific hydrothermal sites. He was on-board explorer at 2002, 2003 and 2004 Submarine Ring of Fire expeditions. He supplied redox sensors for ABE and CTD operation at the Lost City 2003 expedition. In this cruise the redox sensor on the Hercules' second manipulator is expected to point out the existence of invisible fluid emission.

Jim Newman
Chief Engineer
Institute for Exploration

Jim Newman's career has involved the development of remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) for various scientific uses. He has been involved in building all of IFE’s underwater vehicles. Jim has participated in IFE expeditions to the Black Sea, Mediterranean, Hawaii, Lake Huron, and the Solomon Islands, as well as the 2004 Titanic and Mountains in the Sea expeditions. Jim also spends as much time as he can messing about with small boats. Jim has a USCG Master's license, BS and MS degrees in Ocean Engineering from MIT, and owns Woods Hole Marine Systems, Inc.

Eric Olson
Research Assistant Oceanographer
University of Washington
School of Oceanography
Seattle Washington
shore-based

Eric Olson has worked as an oceanographer at the University of Washington for 19 years. He has a BS degree in Chemistry from Cal. State Fullerton and a MS in Oceanography from Oregon State University. His work with Dr. Marv Lilley has focused on measuring the amounts of trace gases in various marine environments and studying the processes which produce and consume these gases. In the last 15 years he has collected and analyzed almost 1000 samples of hydrothermal vent fluids from sites all over the world. More recently, he has added a focus on long-term instrumentation of hydrothermal vents to take advantage of upcoming observatory systems.

Webb Pinner
NOAA Contractor/Graduate Student
University of Rhode Island
ship-based

Webb Pinner is a NOAA contractor finishing up his master's degree in ocean engineering at the University of Rhode Island. He will be providing computer and networking support as well as performing data management duties for the 2005 Lost City and Deep Sea Coral expeditions. His role as "resident geek" will be to maintain all ship-based ROV and lab computers as well as assist with data logging and archiving tasks. This summer will be Webb's second season working with the IFE team.

Brennan Phillips
Engineering Technician
HERCULES ROV system
ship-based

Brennan Phillips received his B.S. in Ocean Engineering from the University of Rhode Island and is an engineering technician on the HERCULES ROV system. He has worked on HERCULES since his senior year at the University of Rhode Island (URI) and participated in last summer's NOAA cruise to the Titanic. Brennan is also a graduate student at the University of Connecticut, pursuing a Master's degree in biological oceanography. His research interests include pelagic gelatinous zooplankton with a focus on Antarctic salps. Brennan hopes to combine his technological skills and experience with his research in marine biology.

Giora Proskurowski, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
ship-based

Giora recently received his PhD from the University of Washington School of Oceanography under the tutelage of Marvin Lilley. For his graduate work Giora examined the stable and radiocarbon isotopes of CO2, CH4, and H2 from a variety of hydrothermal gases, including those from Lost City. He is now a Deep Ocean Exploration Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, working with Jeff Seewald. The goal of his postdoctoral work at WHOI is to characterize the stable carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of the low molecular weight hydrocarbons found in hydrothermal fluids from the Lau Basin as well as Lost City. On this research expedition Giora's primary responsibility will be maintaining the gas-tight samplers and processing the recovered fluids so that they can be analyzed back on shore.

Susan Quint Lang
Graduate Student
University of Washington
shore-based

Susan is a PhD student at the University of Washington. She studies dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in hydrothermal fluids. DOC can be used as a tracer for subsurface processes such as microbial production or abiotic removal. For her Master's research she examined hydrothermal fluids from vent fields on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. For her PhD dissertation she is examining these locations in more detail as well as expanding her research to sites such as the Lost City vent field.

Brian Raynes
Video Technician
Little Bay Broadcast Services LLC
ship-based

Brian Raynes started working in television with his father, David Raynes, when he was 10 years old cleaning monitors. For the last 3 years Brian has worked for a remote television truck company, New Century Productions, as an Engineer in Charge. He worked this last year at the World Series and the CBS coverage of the US Open. Before working at NCP, Brian worked in Brisbane Australia for the Goodwill Games. His father and he have just started a new company together this is the first time in 4 years that Brian and his father have worked together.

David Raynes
Video Technician
Little Bay Broadcast Services LLC
ship-based

David Raynes has been involved in television broadcasting for over 32 years. He started work at New Hampshire Public Television and worked as Chief Studio Engineer there before leaving. He has done work all over the world for many different clients. He has worked as technical manager for 5 Olympics with the 6th coming this winter. Having worked for different companies that develop and strengthen the broadcast profession has allowed David to expand with the market. Project management and consulting for a number of different customers are now keeping him very busy.

Kevin Roe
ship-based

Kevin Roe is an Oceanographer at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, having first participated in seagoing research over 25 years ago. His education includes a B.S. in Chemical Oceanography from University of Washington and an M.S. from Florida State University. He has been on numerous cruises that utilize remotely operated vehicles and Alvin. During this cruise, Kevin will be analyzing in near real-time the unique fluids that are venting from the Lost City hydrothermal field. He will first analyze the vent fluids for dissolved chemicals that are best analyzed immediately, such as hydrogen sulfide, and silica, and he will measure pH and alkalinity before oxidation, precipitation, bacterial utilization or simple degassing occur. His onshore analyses include dissolved metals such as iron, manganese, zinc, copper, cadmium, silver, and lead and major ions, which include sodium, chloride, magnesium, sulfate, calcium, strontium, potassium, borate, and trace elements.

Chris Roman
Navigator
Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Chris Roman specializes in acoustic and photographic mapping from underwater vehicles in the deep ocean. He has a BS from Virginia Tech and a MS from UCSD both in mechanical engineering. He completed his Ph.D in ocean engineering at MIT and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Chris has worked on mapping algorithm development, underwater vehicle design and vehicle control systems. He was one of the designers of the the SEAbed AUV and has been to sea with the JASON ROV operated by WHOI and IFE's Hercules ROV.

Tim Shank
Assistant Scientist
Biology Department
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
ship-based

Tim Shank received a bachelors degree in Biology and German from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, worked two years in genetic toxicology at the Environmental Protection Agency, and received a PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University. His primary research interests focus on understanding the ecological factors that affect the structure of diverse populations of deep-sea species. He combines molecular genetic approaches and ecological field studies to understand the conditions and adaptations that allow various species to migrate, evolve, and thrive in deep-sea habitats, including chemosynthetic ecosystems and potentially isolated seamounts. He has more than 25 scientific expeditions to deep-sea hydrothermal vents, hydrocarbon seeps, continental slopes, and seamounts in the Eastern Pacific, Northern Atlantic, Sea of Cortez, Northeast Pacific, Galápagos Rift, Southeast Pacific, and Central Indian Ocean. These expeditions included more than 50 submersible dives, 20 remotely operated vehicle dives, and 35 autonomous underwater vehicle dives.

Patrick Shea
Field Producer
JASON Foundation for Education

Patrick Shea has spent the last eight years helping to excite and educate students about science, math, and technology through his work at the JASON Foundation for Education. During that time he has produced dozens of web sites, interactive games, and videos that tell the stories of research expeditions taking place all over the world. This will be Pat's second voyage on the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown. He also sailed on the "Return to Titanic" cruise in 2004.

Kurt St. Amant
Media Arts/Immersion
ship-based

Kurt St. Amant is the onboard director for "Life at the Extremes - Lost City". Kurt received a degree in film in 1981 from California State University at Fullerton. He has worked in the fields of entertainment and education for over twenty-five years. He has worked on the Jason Project for eleven years. Kurt's positions have included location director, independent film producer, director, writer, and editor.

Mitchell D. Schulte, PhD
University of Missouri
NASA Ames Research Center (as of Sept. 1, 2005)
shore-based

Mitch Schulte earned his PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis in 1997. He has been a Research Scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California since July 2000. He is on the editorial board of the journal Astrobiology and is a Co-Investigator on the NASA Ames Astrobiology Institute team. As of September 1, 2005, he will begin an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Missouri - Columbia. Dr. Schulte is the Chief Scientist of a field-based study of ophiolite terranes in northern California as habitats for extremophiles and as analogs for a potential martian biosphere. These terranes are land-based analogs of the Lost City hydrothermal fields. He also studies the organic geochemistry of hydrothermal systems, currently focusing on the behavior of sulfur and the abiotic formation of organic compounds in terrestrial and extraterrestrial geochemical systems.

Todd Viola
Immersion Presents
ship-based

Todd Viola specializes in using the Internet for education and public outreach. He is joining this expedition as a member of the Immersion Presents team, which will broadcast live from the expedition, via satellite and Internet2 multi-casts, to a network of museums, aquariums, science centers and other informal learning sites across the United States. During the expedition, Todd will produce the Immersion Presents website, which is used by Boys & Girls Clubs members who are participating in Immersion Presents Life at the Extremes.

John Wasserman
Data Manger
NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration

John Wasserman is a 20 year US Navy Veteran specializing in Meteorology and Oceanography. His most recent accomplishments include a complete hydrographic survey of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Geodetic survey of Pyongtaek, South Korea. John is one of the newest members of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration (OE), and this is his first cruise with NOAA. He works for OE at the National Coastal Data Development Center in Bay St Louis, MS as a Metadata Specialist. His role on this cruise is Data Manger. He is responsible for properly documenting all data and media collected throughout the cruise.

Dave Wright
ROV Engineering and Operations Support Contractor
ship-based

Dave Wright wears many hats dealing with the electronic, fiber-optic, and computer systems that make up the Institute for Exploration remotely operated vehicle systems. If something is not working properly, Dave will not be sleeping! He is a veteran of many cruises, having worked with the vehicles since their creation. Living in Moss Landing California, he contracts his services in all parts of the world.