Capitol Hill, That Is....): My Experiences As a Connecticut Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow Laura Rear
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University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Wrack Lines University of Connecticut Sea Grant July 2004 A Year on the Hill (Capitol Hill, that is....): My experiences as a Connecticut Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow Laura Rear Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/wracklines Recommended Citation Rear, Laura, "A Year on the Hill (Capitol Hill, that is....): My experiences as a Connecticut Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow" (2004). Wrack Lines. 10. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/wracklines/10 A Year on the Hill (Capitol Hill, that is....) My experiences as a Connecticut Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow Archaeological Program Assistant, I was fortunate enough to head out to by Laura Rear sea to the site of the RMS Titanic in June 2003 with several marine When I was accepted as a Knauss Sea Auster, Science Director for the archaeologists. The Titanic remains were Grant Marine Policy Fellow in June Connecticut National Undersea Research first found by Dr. Robert Ballard in 2002, I was exhilarated. I was going to Center (NURC), who would head out to 1985, using towed side scan sonar and get the chance to spend a year of my sea with me later in the year to explore cameras. In 1986 Ballard returned to the career working for the federal govern- seamounts in the mid-Atlantic. That con- site with Alvin to document the state of ment in Washington, DC. It was not until ference was the first of many that I the wrecked ocean liner. As per the five months later in November that I would attend on behalf of Ocean Guidelines for Research, Exploration and would come to DC for a week to inter- Exploration. I also had the opportunity to Salvage of RMS Titanic, issued under view and select the office I would be participate in the National Science the authority of the RMS Titanic working in for the next year. Teachers Association meeting in Maritime Act of 1986, NOAA has a vest- Placement week, as the week in Philadelphia, where I met Diana Payne, ed interest in the appropriate treatment November is called, is a whirlwind of Connecticut Sea Grant Educator, who and preservation of the Titanic wreck activity. There were 32 Fellows, 10 on would also sail with Peter and me later site. the Legislative side and 22 on the in the year. The 2003 expedition to Titanic did Executive. I was chosen for the OE funds scientists through a com- not make use of Alvin; instead the Executive Branch. We each had 12-16 petitive proposal process to conduct Russian research vessel Akademik interviews in a span of three days, most- exploratory research. A handful of the Mstislav Keldysh with its twin sub- ly at the National Oceanic and expeditions each year are documented in mersibles Mir I and Mir II was the Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), detail on the OE web site, research platform. CAPT McLean and but also at the Environmental Protection <http://www.oceanexplorer.noaa.gov>. LTJG Weirich, from OE; Dr. George Agency, Oceanographer of the Navy, When one of these missions arises, a Bass from the Institute of Nautical National Science Foundation, and staff member from OE is on board to Archaeology at Texas A&M; Larry Department of State. After the inter- cover the research cruise, working close- Murphy, Chief of the Submerged views, the offices rank their top picks, ly with the scientists, teachers and crew Resources Center, National Park Service; and then the Fellows decide where they members on board to properly relay and microbiologists Dr. Roy Cullimore want to work. daily logs and photos in near real-time to and Lori Johnston, Droycon At the end of the week I had accept- shore. I was the Web Coordinator for the Bioconcepts, Inc., were on board to ed a position at the NOAA Office of Mountains in the Sea cruise, and enjoyed continued Ocean Exploration (OE). The office, the opportunity to work closely with sev- under the direction of Capt. Craig eral familiar faces from the University of McLean, was created in 2000 by an Connecticut National Undersea Research executive order requiring that the physi- Center and Connecticut Sea Grant. This cal, biological, chemical and archaeolog- expedition was extremely successful as ical aspects of the ocean be explored, all seven dives aboard the Deep mapped and documented. Submergence Vehicle Alvin were com- At OE I would work with the staff pleted, covering 29 hours of bottom marine archaeologist, LTJG Jeremy time. A few new species of deep-sea Weirich, on policy issues related to sub- corals were discovered, and at least one merged cultural resources. I was excited new species of cumacean (a small crus- because it was a chance to learn some- tacean) was found. thing new. After finishing my master ’s During this research cruise, I was degree in Oceanography at the offered a moment to sit inside the Alvin. University of Connecticut in December, I At last I knew what it was like to sit packed my belongings and moved south inside the tiny submersible that so many to the nation's capital. famous oceanographers used to visit the One of my first tasks was to attend bottom of the ocean. Of course I could Underwater International in New Orleans still only imagine what the deep abyss to represent OE at their information looked like, as Alvin was still in the Laura Rear, a 2003 Knauss Sea booth and to take notes at the OE session hangar when I was given this chance to Grant Marine Policy Fellow from see inside the famed "creature"! Connecticut, pictured in front of DSV held on Remotely Operated Vehicles Alvin. (ROVs). It was there that I ran into Peter Speaking of Alvin, as the Marine Image courtesy of NOAAOffice of Ocean Exploration. 1 AYear on the Hill .... continued from previous page study the present state and offer archaeo- The NOAA Office of Ocean logical insight for preserving Titanic. I Exploration dedicates 10 per cent of its was in charge of the logistics and manag- budget to education and outreach. As part ing metadata for this cruise. The good of OE’s outreach program, a partnership fortune of meeting the “father of mar- was created with the Girl Scouts of the itime archaeology”, Dr. Bass, and dis- U.S.A. Every year six girls get the cussing archaeological oceanography chance of a lifetime to dive 50 feet with him was absolutely priceless! underwater into the world’s only under- The last research cruise that I partici- water laboratory, the Aquarius, owned pated in during the year was the bio- and operated by the University of North prospecting expedition in the Gulf of Carolina, Wilmington, National Undersea Mexico, with researchers from the Research Center. The scouts spend a week learning about ocean exploration and marine science, via a suite of activ- ities centered on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. I was in charge of planning and supervising the 2003 event, a pleasure for a 21-year member of the Girl Scout movement. One of the most amazing experiences of the week was watching the six girls become educated about how to con- serve and protect our coral reef resources, which are constantly under Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow (CT) threat due to human contamination. This Laura Rear hovers over the Aquarius in the Florida Keys. event helped inform me of the plight of the coral reef as well. This was the first Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution time I had ever gotten a look at the reefs (Florida). This expedition marked the close-up. I learned to snorkel about 24 first time that NOAA OE used an indus- hours before the girls arrived and quickly try ROV (Sonsub, Inc.) for exploratory appreciated every blue, red, orange, yel- Ghost ship. Bow of the Titanic, as research purposes. During this expedition low and purple hue I encountered. observed from a camera mounted on I was in charge of managing the metadata During one year at NOAA, I the Mir submersible. Image courtesy in the OE database. This task included was able to get my feet wet, literally, and NOAAOcean Exploration. gathering weather information from the learn about how marine policy affects ship, recording the samples collected every researcher. I was given the oppor- with the ROV, logging how they are tunity to step out of academia and see stored, keeping track of the times that the where the policy is developed that allows About the Author: ROV was in the water as well as what researchers to conduct their science. LAURA REAR is an personnel were on shift. The expedition There are many issues facing the Oceanographer at the NOAA logged 22 ROV dives with over 80 hours oceanographic community that will arise Center for Operational Ocean- ographic Products and Services of bottom time. Twelve sites were fully within the next few years and I am glad I in Silver Spring, Maryland. In documented with 155 samples collected got the chance to be a part of it. I am addition to having been a Sea and catalogued. now working for the NOAA Center for Grant Knauss Marine Policy When I was not out at sea, I worked Operational Oceanographic Products and Fellow, she earned her masters on Memoranda of Understanding plan to use the knowledge that I gained degree from the UCONN between NOAA and several State as a Knauss Fellow to further the mission Department of Marine Sciences Historic Preservation Officers and of NOAA as we strive to manage, pre- in 2002. Archaeologists. I had to work closely serve and protect coastal and marine with the NOAA lawyers and the States in resources and begin to understand and order to perfect the document.