Beyond the Blue: Hawaiʻi Mapping

Sam Cuellar

Expedition Coordinator, NOAA Ocean Exploration

Sam Cuellar is a physical scientist with NOAA Ocean Exploration. With a background in underwater archaeology, Sam specializes in mission and survey planning and the collection and interpretation of numerous types of geophysical data from oceanographic systems, including autonomous underwater and remotely operated vehicles and novel one-off technologies. Sam received his bachelor’s degree in anthropology and master’s degree in nautical archaeology from Texas A&M University, focusing on the development of a low-cost, off-the-shelf infrared imaging system to aid archaeological conservators in better diagnosing the state of recovered artifacts and revealing details invisible to the human eye. He is currently finishing his doctorate in nautical archaeology at Texas A&M, exploring the cultural maritime landscape of the abandoned 19th century port city Indianola, Texas, and surrounding Matagorda Bay. Sam’s research fuses newly collected geophysical data with ecological, historical, and archaeological contexts to better understand how various Indigenous and European groups were impacted by and morphed the landscape in which they settled. With 11 years of underwater archaeology experience, Sam has had the fortune of investigating an abandoned World War I fleet in a Texas river, excavating a wrecked 17th century Venetian merchantman carrying goods for the Ottoman Sultan in Croatia, and searching for the lost ships of Hernán Cortés along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

Shannon Hoy

Expedition Coordinator, NOAA Ocean Exploration

Shannon Hoy is the Expedition Coordinator Team Lead with NOAA Ocean Exploration. She has always had a love of the ocean and started going to sea as an undergraduate on numerous seafloor mapping missions. On two of these expeditions, she was a NOAA Ocean Exploration explorer-in-training on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer! Now she leads field expeditions aboard Okeanos Explorer using a variety of tools such as multibeam sonars and remotely operated vehicles to map and explore remote and/or poorly understood areas of our ocean. When not in the field, she focuses on improving NOAA Ocean Exploration's operational efficiency and effectiveness and works to improve the pace and quality of ocean mapping as an active participant in the global mapping community. Her specialty is in deepwater ocean mapping and she received a master’s degree in Earth Sciences: Ocean Mapping from the University of New Hampshire.

Fernando Aragon

Technical Team Member, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration

Fernando Aragon graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. During his studies, he gained experience in several fields, including conceptual design, aerospace research, mechanical design, robotics, and software development. From these activities he was able to intern for NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, present research at a national conference, and even co-author a technical paper in the Journal of the Astronautical Sciences. His most recent position was at the Field Robotics Laboratory (FRL), where he helped support operations, testing, and software development for two unmanned surface vehicles. From his time in FRL, he discovered a true passion for development and design of robotic systems. Originally from Colombia, Fernando enjoys outdoor activities and currently resides in State College, Pennsylvania.

Caitlin Bailey

Video Editor, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration

Caitlin Bailey became a member of the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration video team and started sailing aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer in 2016. She is a "bi-polar" explorer, having been to both the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as a National Geographic Explorer. Caitlin is passionate about wildlife and sharing the deep sea and polar regions with a wide variety of audiences. She has a Master of Fine Arts in science and natural history filmmaking from Montana State University and a Bachelor of Science in animal biology from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. When not at sea, Caitlin resides in San Antonio, Texas, where she enjoys SCUBA diving, hiking, and entertaining her labradoodle, Camie.

Roland Brian

Video and Satellite Engineer, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration

Roland Brian brings 38 years of electronics and satellite experience, with 29 of those years focusing on television and video engineering specialization. Throughout his early years in television, Roland worked to hone his skills and experience for various television stations and remote broadcasters as well as national broadcasters ranging from CBS, PBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, ESPN, Fox Sports, and the Golf Channel. With a keen eye for precise high-quality, high-definition video, he really enjoys and helps bring the imagery to life for the viewers. Roland began his career in the U.S. Air Force where he worked as a satellite communications engineering technician with visions of working on the U.S. Space Station. He traded in that quest for one of deep-ocean exploration and sharing the beautiful imagery with the world. He has worked with NOAA Ocean Exploration since 2010 and plays an integral part in telepresence-enabled remotely operated vehicle (ROV) expeditions. He has also provided engineering design, integration, and operation services for other projects using various Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration (GFOE) and NOAA Ocean Exploration mobile telepresence systems. His duties aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer include operation and maintenance of the ship's telepresence and video and satellite systems, including those on ROVs Deep Discoverer and Seirios. Again, Roland’s experience embodies the breadth and depth of knowledge that GFOE and NOAA Ocean Exploration encourage. When not at sea, Roland enjoys life with his wife and family in sunny Sarasota, Florida.

Jennifer Clifton

Contract Mapper

Jennifer Clifton has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies with minors in coastal management and biology from Eckerd College. She enjoys working on various research and literature review projects. In 2022, Jennifer started as an Explorer-in-Training and is excited to continue supporting NOAA’s ocean exploration missions as a contract mapper. Her areas of interest include marine ecosystems, coastal management, and marine conservation. In her downtime, Jennifer enjoys being outdoors and exploring various nature preserves.

Alexandra Dawson

Physical Scientist and Hydrographic Surveys Project Manager, NOAA Office of Coast Survey

Alexandra (Alex) Dawson is a physical scientist and hydrographic surveys project manager for the NOAA Office of Coast Survey's Hydrographic Surveys Division. Alex obtained her bachelor of science in geology from the College of Charleston in 2018 and was a proud member of the BEAMS Program (BEnthic Acoustic Mapping and Survey) for three years under the leadership of Dr. Leslie Sautter. In her current role at NOAA, Alex prioritizes, plans, and manages Office of Coast Survey-led hydrographic survey projects using in-house and contracted survey platforms. She critically evaluates the nation's seafloor mapping needs and applies the necessary hydrographic survey specifications, requirements, and resources to update NOAA nautical charting products and ensure safe maritime navigation within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In August 2024, Alex will attend the University of New Hampshire to pursue her Masters in Earth Sciences: Ocean Mapping.

Brian Doros

Video Engineer, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration

Brian Doros is a television broadcast engineer who was born in Long Branch, New Jersey. Active in sports throughout high school, Brian moved to Southern California and spent the next few years traveling the world surfing and then exploring his technical interests at college in San Diego, California. After changing his course of study to electronics, he focused on broadcast electronics and technical maintenance in broadcasting. His career path first led him to employment at IBM/MCA Video Laser Disc Company in Costa Mesa, California, doing research and development in the early days of optical laser disc, then to Los Angeles, where he specialized in film for television post-production. The next several years were spent working in the Hollywood post-production industry at Paramount Pictures, MGM/Lorimar Telepictures, 20th Century Fox, NFL Films, and Sony Broadcast Company North America, contributing to his 25 years of experience in television post-production and broadcast systems integration. After Hollywood, Brian worked in the field, traveling and upgrading network television facilities to digital broadcasting capabilities during the analog to digital conversion. He now has moved on to less broadcast traditional applications of his background working in his current position.

Mark Durbin

Data Engineer, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration

Mark Durbin holds a bachelor’s degree in information technology and a master’s in computer information systems from Tarleton State University, where he focused on network security solutions. Mark has over 28 years experience in designing, testing, and supporting numerous variations of voice/data wired/wireless telecommunications networking solutions and security solutions, services, and products. During his career at MCI/Verizon, he held several engineering, research and development, and management positions and was with the company for over 23 years. During this time, he worked on key network projects and initiatives, including federal security solutions, access solutions, security services, virtualization, and many other large network solutions. In addition, he received four patents for networking and security solutions. Mark is married to Laura, his wife of 32 years, and has three kids and five grandkids. Some of Mark's hobbies and interests include car, truck, and boat repair/restoration; hiking; biking; running; camping; hunting; fishing; boating; amateur radio; storm chasing; home automation/security systems; fitness instructing; and scuba diving.

Treyson (Trey) Gillespie

Mapping Watch Lead, NOAA Ocean Exploration

Treyson (Trey) Gillespie lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in geology and environmental geosciences and a Master of Science in environmental and sustainability studies from the College of Charleston (CofC). At CofC, Trey completed the BEnthic Acoustic Mapping & Survey (BEAMS) program where he gainedexperience processing and analyzing multibeam bathymetric data for applied scientificresearch. As a result, Trey had the opportunity to work and sail with a variety of international and domestic organizations such as Seabed 2030, Geological Survey Ireland, the INFOMAR Project, the U.S. federal government as a NOAA explorer-in-training on multiple expeditions, and aboard several University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) vessels in support of oceanographic science and as a mentor to undergraduate students. Since 2019, Trey has worked with academic, commercial, and governmental vessels to map our ocean in support of the greater scientific community and now serves as a mapping watch lead for NOAA Ocean Exploration helping to train and mentor new generations of explorers-in-training aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer.

Erin Heffron

Erin Heffron is an ocean mapping specialist providing sonar data acquisition, subsea navigation, geospatial analysis, and GIS services through her company, Ocean Mapping Services LLC. Her undergraduate studies focused on geology and GIS, and she became immersed in the world of ocean mapping while working for IVS3D and, post-acquisition of IVS3D, QPS, as a senior product specialist focusing on pre-sales technical support, product outreach, and technical training for nearly 10 years. She was a founding member of the Backscatter Working Group and was part of the internal core team tasked with investigating client and community needs during the development of the Qimera software. She left QPS in 2015 to pursue her master’s degree in Earth Sciences, Ocean Mapping at the University of New Hampshire's Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping. While completing her master's she began working extensively with the Ocean Exploration Trust, serving as a mapping coordinator, lead navigator, and expedition leader aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus on dozens of expeditions. Post-degree she has continued working offshore as well as on shore-based projects ranging from data processing to pre-exploration research and subsea geohazard/ocean operations risk analysis, for a variety of clients.

Chris Wright

Data Engineer, Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration

Chris Wright holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Mary Washington and a Master of Business Administration from Rollins College. After graduation, he worked as a network and systems administrator and engineer in the hospitality industry in the Northeast and Mountain West for more than 15 years. Recently relocating back to the East Coast, Chris joined the Global Foundation for Ocean Exploration (GFOE) data team in early 2019 as one of the newest members of the organization. In 2019, he completed his first expedition aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and is extremely excited about continuing the journey to explore the oceans around the world. When he isn't sailing on Okeanos Explorer, he’s busy working in GFOE’s Quonset office planning, designing, and implementing data solutions to help refine and mature its base of operations for ocean exploration. Chris and his family currently reside in Newport, Rhode Island.