PROTECTING THE PLANET
CITIZEN SCIENCE
Crowdsourcing hits the high seas to support research .
BY MARIO AGUILERA , WARREN ’ 89
THE RESEARCH VESSELS of Scripps Institution of Oceanography ( SIO ) at UC San Diego have logged hundreds of thousands of nautical miles — over undersea volcanoes and through monstrous waves — seeking answers to some of the planet ’ s most daunting environmental challenges . Yet with a new agreement , that mission now comes aboard the deck of pleasure craft the world over .
Scripps has recently collaborated with the International Sea- Keepers Society , a yachting organization devoted to promoting oceanographic research , to leverage the might of citizen scientists in support of research projects at sea . When a need arises from a Scripps scientist , engineer or student , SeaKeepers will tap into its database of yachting vessel owners willing to offer their ships and provide a new opportunity to collect samples , deploy instruments and otherwise further their science .
“ This agreement provides a way for citizens to participate in scientific research in a meaningful way ,” says Bruce Appelgate , associate director of SIO and head of Ship Operations and Marine Technical Support . “ Scientists and nonscientists alike can share the experience of understanding and protecting the planet .”
The collaboration with SeaKeepers , realized with help from Scripps supporter Patty Elkus and others , is a throwback to SIO ’ s earliest days when scientists made full use of the public ’ s interest to aid the young institution ’ s fledgling scientific endeavors . “ More than one hundred years ago , Scripps ’ first expeditions used private vessels operated for , or loaned to , the institution by its co-founder E . W . Scripps and his colleagues ,” says Kevin Hardy , a retired engineer at Scripps and expert in its history of exploration .
Hardy ’ s engineering work is currently being used in the program . Scripps graduate student Natalya Gallo , M . S . ’ 14 , is currently using miniature versions of Hardy ’ s deep sea instruments to study how
“ Scientists and nonscientists alike can share the experience of understanding and protecting the planet .”
— Bruce Appelgate , Associate Director , Scripps Institution of Oceanography
fish are responding to the declining subsurface oxygen levels off California , known to have dropped some 20-30 percent over the last 25 years .
In 2012 , Hardy developed 14-foot-tall deep-sea “ lander ” science instruments as part of ocean explorer and filmmaker James Cameron ’ s record-breaking dives to the deepest points on Earth . To help Gallo ’ s current research , he developed a five-foot version dubbed the “ nanolander ” that is capable of being hand-launched off yachting vessels .
When San Diego Yacht Club ’ s Rodney Moll learned of Gallo ’ s research and Hardy ’ s new five-foot-tall nanolander , he volunteered to take them to sea aboard his vessel , Niyama . This spring , Moll ’ s ship will deploy a nanolander equipped with Gallo ’ s oxygen sensor package and camera system in the Scripps Coastal Reserve off La Jolla . Months later , the instruments will be filled with new data and recalled to the surface via an acoustic signal .
“ Regular access to sea makes this research possible , but the partnership with SeaKeepers is also a unique opportunity for scientists to engage with the geater community ,” says Gallo , a Michael M . Mullin Fellow at Scripps . “ By partnering yacht owners with young scientists , we can both advance scientific efforts and actively engage interested members of the public in the scientific process .”
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