OCEAN LECTURE SERIES

"Submersible Science at Harbor Branch: Looking from the Inside Out"
• Dr. Shirley A. Pomponi & Don Liberatore

ABOUT THE LECTURE

Harbor Branch was founded more than thirty years ago for the purpose of conducting research in the deep sea. The cornerstone of our deep-sea research programs is the Johnson-Sea-Link manned submersible systems - versatile platforms that take scientists more than a half mile beneath the surface of the ocean to conduct oceanographic research, drug discovery, marine archaeology, and recovery operations. These capabilities make Harbor Branch unique among oceanographic research institutions.

During this first seminar of the 2003 Ocean Science Lecture Series, we highlight the evolution of the Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles and development of their unique capabilities. We also feature videos of scientific discoveries, archaeological expeditions, and recovery operations with historical importance. Our history is firmly rooted in our submersible program, but we have also developed programs beyond the scope of submersible science, some of which will be featured in up-coming lectures. We will conclude with a preview of whatÕs to come in the Ocean Science Lecture Series.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dr. Shirley Pomponi is Harbor Branch's Vice President and Director of Research. She holds a B.A. in Biology from the College of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, NJ, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS). She joined Harbor Branch in 1984, and from 1992 to April 2002, she directed the Division of Biomedical Marine Research in the discovery of marine-derived chemicals with pharmaceutical potential. Shirley's research interests focus on sponges: their taxonomy, cell biology, and aquaculture. She has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications in marine biotechnology, biodiversity, cell and molecular biology, systematics, and natural products chemistry, and is a co-inventor on several Harbor Branch patents. Shirley has led numerous research expeditions worldwide, and has logged more than 200 submersible dives as chief scientist. She served on the President's Ocean Exploration Panel, and was a member of the National Academy of Science Committees on the Ocean's Role in Human Health, and Marine Biotechnology. She currently serves on the National Academy of Science Committee on Exploration of the Seas, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel to the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.

Don Liberatore has been with Harbor Branch since October 1977 as a diver/medic, hyperbaric chamber operator, Johnson-Sea-Link I & II Chief Submersible Pilot, and presently as Manager, Undersea Vehicles, and Chief Submersible Pilot for all HBOI manned vehicles. He has over 1500 dives as a submersible pilot and over 200 as J-S-L diver/tender including mixed gas lock-outs to 300 feet. He has been responsible for retrofitting, maintaining, and crew training for Harbor Branch=s submersibles since 1988. He has participated in many research and/or recovery operations as Submersible Ops Coordinator and Submersible Pilot. These include the search and recovery of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the excavation and documentation of the U.S.S. Monitor, the documentation of the wreck of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, and several trips to the Galapagos Islands and Cuba for documentation of the deep-water environment surrounding those islands for scientists, the Discovery Channel, and IMAX Corporation. Don holds an A.S. Degree in Laboratory Technology from Staten Island Community College and an A.S. Degree from Florida Institute of Technology in Underwater Technology.