Share

Media briefing/teleconference

WHAT: Pre-cruise news conference / audio teleconference at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

WHEN: 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 21, 2007

WHERE: Clark Auditorium (Room 507) on WHOI’s Quissett Campus (
NOTE – reporters may also call in to an audio teleconference - details below)

WHY: Scientists and engineers have just completed a successful test of robotic underwater vehicles designed for use beneath the ice of the Arctic Ocean. The research team will now use those vehicles to hunt for life on the seafloor of the world’s most isolated ocean, departing on July 1 for a six-week expedition on the icebreaker Oden to study the Gakkel Ridge. WHOI researchers built two new autonomous underwater vehicles and a new tethered, remotely operated sampling system specifically for the challenges of Arctic operations. They hope to discover exotic seafloor life and submarine hot springs in a region of the ocean that has been mostly cut off from other ecosystems for millions of years.

WHO:
Dr. Hanumant Singh, Associate Scientist, WHOI Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department
Dr. Robert Reves-Sohn, Associate Scientist, WHOI Geology and Geophysics Department
Dr. Timothy Shank, Associate Scientist, WHOI Biology Department

For audio teleconference access instructions, contact media@whoi.edu.

Directions and maps to WHOI Quissett campus Clark Laboratory can be found at http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=8956

Background materials for the news conference will be made available starting on Wednesday, June 20, at http://www.whoi.edu/sbl/liteSite.do?litesiteid=18873

Support for the Gakkel Ridge expedition and for underwater vehicle development has been provided by the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs and Division of Ocean Sciences; the NASA Astrobiology Program; and the Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems, an NSF Engineering Research Center.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment.

Share

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.