Contact: Jeanne Kouhestani FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3/23/98
The McArthur has done just about everything from chasing down plumes of hot ocean water containing mysterious microbes from seafloor volcanic eruptions, to photographing blue whales migrating along the west coast of the United States. This week the ship, part of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fleet, will take a contingent of its youngest scientists ever on a virtual field trip to California's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. These scientists are student "Argonauts" with this year's JASON Project, Oceans of Earth and Beyond.
The JASON Project expedition, led by Bob Ballard, discoverer of the sunken oceanliner Titanic, will be broadcast to millions of students worldwide via satellite and the Internet. The expedition is part of the JASON Foundation for Education program to excite and engage students in science and technology, and provide professional development for their teachers through the use of advanced interactive telecommunications. Expedition activities began March 16 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium; the McArthur joins the expedition on March 23 and participates until the expedition ends on March 27.
Former NOAA chief scientist and JASON host researcher Sylvia Earle will join the student Argonauts aboard the McArthur on March 23 as they conduct survey operations to examine the distribution of zooplankton in Monterey Bay. They will then attempt to relate their findings to changes in the physical environment such as light, circulation or temperature and to the distribution of phytoplankton and potential seabird predators.
"On the McArthur, we are all excited about the opportunity to participate in this far-reaching educational program where we will work directly with JASON Argonauts. For years the McArthur has welcomed teachers on board through NOAA's Teacher at Sea program. We've just begun a demonstration project called Classroom@Sea where high school students can follow the McArthur's oceanographic research through an interactive Web site. With JASON, we can now take our outreach activities a step further to help students discover for themselves the excitement of hands-on research at sea, and watch as they share their discoveries with other students through live broadcasts. Hopefully, the experience will motivate some to go on to careers in science and technology," said Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Bill Sites of the NOAA Corps, NOAA's commissioned officer corps of scientists and engineers.
The McArthur is a 175-foot multi-purpose vessel that conducts oceanographic research, marine mammal population studies, and environmental assessments along the West Coast of the United States and eastern Pacific Ocean. The ship's systems and equipment include a wide range of acoustic, chemical, physical, geological, atmospheric and biological data collection capabilities. The McArthur is managed by NOAA Corps officers and staffed by civilians of the Office of NOAA Corps Operations. Its home port is at NOAA's Pacific Marine Center in Seattle.
The NOAA Corps is the nation's seventh, and smallest, uniformed service. NOAA Corps officers all hold science or engineering degrees, many of them advanced. Not only are these officers highly skilled at operating and managing NOAA's ships and aircraft, their educational background enables them to support NOAA's scientific research.
NOAA Corps officers give essential support to NOAA's programs, from flying "hurricane hunter" research aircraft into nature's most turbulent storms, to surveying and charting the nation's waterways to ensure safe marine navigation.