VAST lectures by John Delaney

Why should we care about understanding the oceans? How will the NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative cabled network change the way we conduct research in our planet's life support system? What opportunities does the convergence of exciting new technologies hold for the ocean sciences?

These big questions were addressed in a series of videotaped lectures presented in August 2011 by John R. Delaney, OOI RSN Director and Principal Investigator, University of Washington Professor of Oceanography, and holder of the Jerome M. Paros Endowed Chair in Sensor Networks. The lectures were prepared for students in Professor Leslie Sautter's undergraduate marine geology class at the College of Charleston in South Carolina as part of the VISIONS At-Sea Telepresence Program (VAST), an educational component of the VISIONS '11 cruise on board the R/V Thompson.

Delaney's overarching topic of Understanding the Planetary Life Support System:
Next Generation Science in the Ocean Basins, was divided into the following three 45-minute lectures:

PART I:  Rationale for Studying the Ocean
PART II: Overview of the Ocean Observatories Initiative's Cabled Observatory
Part III:  Emergent Technologies