The OceansWide Board of Advisors
Dale Graves, OceansWide ROV Advisor
Dale has been working
in the deep ocean world for over 25 years. He started his
career as commercial diver working
for International Underwater Contractors (IUC). He worked
for IUC for ten years and during that time his career switched
from commercial diver to manned submersibles and ROV pilot.
After flying commercial submarines for ten years Dale decided
to move into the ROV field full time. During this part of
his career he spent six years working for Western Instruments
and Oceaneering surveying the ocean in the oil and environmental
fields. He has spent the past eleven years working for the
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute as a leader in the
institutes ROV program. Dale has trained and supervised the
majority of pilots on MBARI's ROV team "Tiburon" a
4000 meter deep diving ROV. Recently he was promoted to Technical
Support Manager in the department of marine operations and
is responsible for designing, building and managing the development
of a majority of the institute's critical equipment.
Dale is an expert in the all of the systems of ROVs from
mechanical to hydraulic, but his specialties lie in the fields
of electronics and computer engineering and systems. OceansWide
will greatly benefit from the expertise Mr. Graves brings
to our program.
 Karen
Osborn is an invertebrate biologist who studies deep-sea
pelagic animals, those that live up off the seafloor in the
water column. She is currently at the University of California,
Berkeley and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
(MBARI) where she goes to sea regularly to explore the midwater
realm with MBARI's remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) Ventana
and Tiburon. Karen's research focuses on the diversification
and ecology of pelagic invertebrates with a special focus
on the adaptations necessary to live up in the water column.
She will describe a recent expedition to the Weddell Sea,
Antarctica where she and her research group used a Phantom
ROV to examine animals living around huge free-floating icebergs.
Also, Karen will describe the diversity of strange and amazing
animals found in the midwater, including several species
that are new to science which she has described.
 Amy West
Having grown up in the little mountain town of Durango,
Colorado, I realized at a very early age that something was
missing from my childhood: the ocean. So I shot off to the
Caribbean for 4 years in order to acquire my B.S. in marine
biology whilst diving among the tropical fish and exploring
surrounding islands. Working aboard boats and as a SCUBA
diver for a tourist submarine led to sundry underwater adventures.
Serving in Peace Corps in a remote Central African region
resulted in a rewarding challenge between undergraduate and
my entry into grad school. From there I purchased a round-the-world
ticket and ended in New Zealand where I eventually obtained
my Masters degree in marine science. Here I began exploring
a remote fiord with a manned submersible to document life
beyond the depths of SCUBA. During my research, I landed
an opportune internship at the deep-institute MBARI in
Monterey Bay, using their ROVs. This experience eventually
convinced me to leave my life abroad and grow some roots
in the states. Since then my work aboard a sailing educational
vessel kept me occupied by introducing the vessel to many
educational, governmental and scientific institutions, and
sailing it in the summer as an experiential platform in hands-on
marine science for the public. By bringing a mini-ROV aboard,
I saw the true value of underwater vehicles in outreach programs.
I continue to advocate the use of ROVs for education
through my relationship with an ROV company and through writing
a novel centered around deep-sea adventures and promoting
deep ocean awareness.
 Marko Talkovic
Currently I have a daydream job as a Chief pilot and technician for the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Doc Ricketts the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). As a youth, my passion for the ocean was fueled by every Jacques Cousteau special that came through the rabbit ears on the television. This inspired me to move as quickly as possible from beneath the shadow of the Matterhorn (in Anaheim, California not Switzerland) to the beaches of southern California. After a few towns and colleges, I received a bachelor's degree in aquatic biology from UC Santa Barbara. My university schooling, as well as the plethora of research opportunities available there, led me down a most rewarding path. As a research SCUBA diver I worked on projects in California, Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Antarctica. The lattermost sent me off on a seafaring career sailing on ice breakers, schooners and submarine tenders as a marine technician. Through eight years as a homeless boat person, I crossed every major nautical line and circumnavigated Antarctica entirely upon research vessels. Eventually, I cast anchor back onshore at MBARI. When not exploring the oceans with an ROV, I continue to seek remote locations to dive and take undersea photographs. When visibility in the sea is bad, often it's good enough in the mountains of the western states for a snowboarding excursion.
 James
Sheppard
As the photo of me snowshoeing shows, I enjoy the outdoors. I've spent most of
my life in Colorado, hiking in the high country and playing in the snow. Whether
it's mountain sports or riding the waves off Southern California on a boogie
board, or traveling around the world, I'm interested in a variety of activities.
To support all of this, I work as a technical writer. As a writer, I have managed
to find work that has taken me around the world, from Europe to South America
to Antarctica. While working in and near Antarctica, I have spent time on icebreakers,
my first exposure to the sea. I grew up in North Dakota, where I was as far from
an ocean as you can get on this continent. So discovering that I enjoy going
to sea was a surprise to me. I'm excited to participate with OceansWide and contribute
my writing skills on projects that merge my interest in the outdoors with making
a difference in our world.
 Bruce H. Robison - Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute
Bruce Robison received a Ph.D. from Stanford
University in 1973. He spent two years conducting postdoctoral
research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, before moving
to UC Santa Barbara. In 1987 he joined the newly formed Monterey
Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
Robison's research is focused
on the biology and ecology of deep sea animals, particularly
those that inhabit the oceanic water column. He pioneered the use of undersea
vehicles for these studies and he led the first team of scientists
trained as research submersible pilots. As pilot or observer,
Robison has spent a good portion of his career in deep
water, aboard more than a dozen different submersibles. At MBARI,
his research team has focused on the development of remotely
operated vehicles as research platforms for deep-sea research.
Bruce Robison is a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. In 2002 he received the Marine
Technology Society's Lockheed-Martin Award for Ocean Science
and Engineering. His research in deep-sea ecology has carried
him throughout the Pacific, to the Atlantic, and to the
oceanic waters around Antarctica. He is the author of two
books and more than eighty scientific publications.
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More about OceansWide
2009 Summer Camps
Registration is now open for the OceansWide 2008 Summer Camps.
More Info
For more information about OceansWide please email info@oceanswide.org or call 207-563-7774.
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