SCIENTIFIC DIVING RESEARCH PROJECTS

There are two Biology courses offered during the Fall in alternate academic years, that require scientific diving certification. Kelp Forest Ecology, Biology 161, has twenty-four undergraduate students. They learn the sampling and analytical techniques necessary to conduct their own scientific studies underwater. Identification of kelp forest organisms is part of this learning process. Marine Ecology Field Quarter, Biology 162, has 25 undergraduate students. Students develop a research project during the first four weeks on campus then spend six weeks of immersion in directed research without distraction in isolated locations off campus. Past locations include the Gulf of California in Mexico and Moorea, French Polynesia. If a student is enrolled in Biology 162 no other courses may be taken during that quarter.

[Photo of diver with sponge] Chemistry professor Phil Crews studies marine natural products. With his staff and student divers he has been traveling to tropical sites (Bahamas, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands) for nearly 3 decades collecting marine organisms and extracting and isolating chemical compounds. They analyze the organic chemistry of these compounds and test their pharmacological activity.

For more information, go to: http://chemistry.ucsc.edu/mnpr/

[Photo of diver with gian clam] Biology professor Dr. Don Potts and his students dive to collect and photograph corals in order to gather information on the taxonomy, phylogeny and the genetics of these animals. He is concerned with how environmental changes affect the ecology of coral reefs. His group is developing high resolution, aerial, remote sensing techniques to gather biological and ecological data simultaneously over entire systems (e.g. estuaries, watersheds, whole reefs) as a way to define and work on functional units, not just isolated subsets. His studies take him to Australia, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Papua New Guinea and just about anywhere he can find coral reefs.

For more information, go to: http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/faculty/potts.html

[diver Physiologist Terrie Williams and her graduate students are using scuba diving as a tool to measure the physiological responses of diving mammals in natural environments. They also use program boats for marine mammal observations in Monterey Bay. By examining the functional relationships between animals and their environment, they can begin to understand the ecological significance of a species and the adaptive changes that may be necessary for its survival. Current research projects in her laboratory include metabolic regulation in swimming and diving dolphins, body condition in declining populations of Stellar sea lions and the pathology of oil contamination in sea otters.

For more information, go to: http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/faculty/williams.html

[Diver with trap]

Marine mammalogist Dan Costa uses program vessels for his studies of marine mammals. Scuba divers have been used to study the effects of sea otter predation on clam populations in Elkhorn Slough. Current research focuses on the foraging and reproductive energetics of pinnipeds and seabirds, and the physiology of natural fasting.

For more information, go to: http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/faculty/costa.html

[Diver with fish] Molecular biologist and fish ecologist, Giacomo Bernardi and his graduate students are using molecular and genetic techniques to study the evolutionary ecology of a variety of fishes, including several species of rockfish. They dive to collect fish in the temperate and subtropical Eastern Pacific, the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, and the Indo-West Pacific. Giacomo teaches Marine Ecology with Pete Raimondi. This class, (Bio 162), is a field course held in Moorea, French Polynesia.

For more information, go to: http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/faculty/bernardi.html

[Diver with instruments] Ecologist Pete Raimondi teaches the Kelp Forest Ecology course with Mark Carr and uses diving as a tool for his studies of larval coral recruitment, and kelp forest communities. He is also involved in a number of applied programs in marine ecology. One recent issue his group has been involved in is the design and evaluation of monitoring programs to determine the impacts from the operation of coastal nuclear and fossil fuel power generating stations.

For more information, go to: http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/faculty/raimondi.html

Ecologist Mark Carr and his graduate students are studying the dynamics and structure of populations and communities of temperate and tropical fishes. Currently, they are exploring the roles of, and relationships between, nearshore oceanographic and habitat features, larval supply, settlement and post-settlement processes (e.g., competition and predation) that influence the replenishment and persistence of populations.

For more information, go to: http://www.biology.ucsc.edu/faculty/carr.html

The Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) is an inter-institutional cooperative research program of scientific research and training dedicated to advancing the understanding of the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem along the U.S. West Coast. PISCO conducts monitoring and experiments along more than 1200 miles of coastline, as well as laboratory and theoretical studies. During the Summer months PISCO has a need for divers to meet their monitoring and sampling commitments and draws directly from UCSC's pool of scientific divers.

For more information, go to: http://www.piscoweb.org