Rockefeller University

Program for the Human Environment

Area of Research: Oceans

MURU Symposium November 2018

The Monmouth University-Rockefeller University Marine Science and Policy Initiative (MURU) will be hosting the ‘National Conference on Marine and Environmental eDNA‘ to help accelerate marine environmental DNA science and applications by bringing together researchers, government agencies, and private foundations. Major themes will include Technology development, Bioinformatics, and eDNA biology.

The conference will held Thursday-Friday, November 29-30, 2018 at The Rockefeller University, New York, NY

 

 

Annual meeting of Quiet Ocean strategy group

The USA Strategy Group for the International Quiet Ocean Experiment held its 4th annual meeting 28-30 August at the Marine Policy Center of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where Jesse Ausubel works each July-August.  We focused on opportunities to speed learning with passive acoustics in the Gulf of Mexico.   Attendees were Dave Bradley, Paul Gaffney, Cynthia Pyc, Jennifer Miksis-Olds, Kelly Oskvig, Ruth Perry, Jon White, George Frisk, Peter Tyack, Jesse Ausubel, Ed Urban, and Alan Curry, as well as Dick Pittenger (not in photo).  We enjoyed a tour of Ray Dalio’s Exploration Vessel Alucia which was docked at WHOI.

Census of Marine Life anthem

We listened again to Look to the Sea, the catchy song that Maryann Camilleri, Jerry Harrison, David Dennison, David Hardin, and others created for the Census of Marine Life in 2010.  The song, video and its creators are explained at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqed3WFYDGo

also at https://vimeo.com/17662204

The recording was played at the London Grand Finale of the CoML in October 2010.   The Steve Miller Band played the song several times during their 2010-2011 world tour.

Polished version of Michelson Oceans lecture

Jesse Ausubel had the honor in October 2015 to present the Michelson Lecture  at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.  Thanks Captain and Professor Emil Petruncio!

We now post a polished version of that lecture, “Ocean Past, Ocean Future: Reflections on the Shift from the 19th to 21st Century Ocean.”

Abstract In the 19th century humans knew little about the oceans, but other forms of life knew a lot. Our job the past 135 years has been to catch up and surpass other forms of life in knowledge of the oceans. The advance of observation through science and technology, including new carriers and processors of information, has vastly expanded the oceans knowable to humans beyond what a sailor’s five senses could directly provide. By infiltrating the ocean with informationally connected sensors, humans are becoming the top experts on the oceans in the 21st century.

 

Astounding family lobster

 Lifewatch has named Jesse Ausubel’s ‘terrible claw’ lobster as one of the ten astounding species of the last decade (2007-2017).  Hooray for Dinochelus ausubeli! Thanks to the colleagues who made this happen.

Ten astounding marine species of the last decade (2007-2017)

  • Deep-sea lyre sponge – Chondrocladia lyra
  • Palauan primitive cave eel – Protanguilla palau 
  • Deep-sea acochlidiacean slug – Bathyhedyle boucheti  
  • Tree syllid worm – Ramisyllis multicaudata 
  • Starry sea wanderer jelly – Marivagia stellata  
  • The Hoff crab – Kiwa tyleri 
  • Squidworm – Teuthidodrilus samae 
  • Jesse Ausubel’s ‘terrible claw’ lobster – Dinochelus ausubeli  
  • The ‘living fossil’ octocoral – Nanipora kamurai 
  • Scaly-foot snail – Chrysomallon squamiferum

POGO report

The Task Force on Ocean Biological Observations of the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) has completed its Report.  Jesse Ausubel served on the Task Force, whose report explores new genomic, acoustic, and optical approaches, and their synergies, especially in relation to the deep ocean, and some organizational strategies to speed progress.

“The oceanographic community is beginning to develop sensors, instruments, platforms and systems that will eventually make large scale and long-term ocean biological observation possible. There are developments in imaging, acoustic measurement and genomic sensing that show great promise for the future. Each development is in a different stage of maturity and there is great enthusiasm within the communities for investment in these capabilities. But we see no organization that is consistently fostering these capabilities. We believe that POGO has the long-term perspective, the ocean observation focus, the international scope, and the organizational convening power to take on a focus on ocean biological observation..”

Hudson Canyon at Explorers Club

A Dive into Hudson Canyon: New York’s Atlantic Secret

The Wildlife Conservation Society, The New York Aquarium, and The Explorers Club invite you to a dive into Hudson Canyon – New York’s Atlantic secret.
Speakers:
•    Peter Auster, Mystic Aquarium explorer
•    Jesse Ausubel, Rockefeller University explorer
•    Keith Ellenbogen, underwater photographer
•    Melinda Rekdahl, Wildlife Conservation Society whale scientist
•    Madeleine Thompson, Wildlife Conservation Society archivist
Date: Tuesday, September 26  Time: 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Location: Explorers Club Headquarters, 46 E 70th Street, New York, NY, 10021 Reservation Notes: This event is FREE and open to the public. Light food and drink will be served. Please RSVP to nyseascape@wcs.org, limited seating available. For more details, you can learn more on nyaquarium.com.  This event has been made possible with support of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Ocean Exploration Forum Final Report

The Final Report of the 2016 National Ocean Exploration Forum (NOEF) has been posted on the updated NOEF website.  The site includes the reports of the small groups that developed plans for campaigns of exploration to the Arctic, Gulf of Mexico, and Southeast US Atlantic Bight as well as the slides from the orientation lectures about these regions, slides from the lectures about tools for geology, acoustics, biology, and telepresence, and the discussion papers prepared for the Forum.

A short press release describes the Final Report.

The report contains Jesse Ausubel’s keynote address to the Forum: SuBastian and the Roboats . Pp. 28-31 in Final Report of the 2016 National Ocean Exploration Forum: Beyond the Ships 2020–2025. 2017 (Slightly abridged version published in Sea Technology 58(1):7, January 2017.)

Thanks to Amelie Walker Yung for the great site redesign and to Alan Curry for overseeing the entire NOEF project.

The Forum and its Report are fruits of the Monmouth University-Rockefeller University marine science and policy initiative.

National Ocean Exploration Forum

A Press Release describes recent discoveries by ocean explorers and the 2016 National Ocean Exploration Forum, organized by Jesse Ausubel (Rockefeller University) and Paul Gaffney (Monmouth University). Thanks to the 110 participants and for great preparation by Alan Curry, Doris Manville, Karl Vilacoba, and Danica Simmons.

News reports of the recent discoveries:

Remotely operated vehicles expand reach for ocean researchers

WorkBoat (blog)–Oct 20, 2016

“A lot of the difficulty with ocean exploration since Ulysses is we move slowly at sea,” said Jesse Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human …

Strange purple sea creatures found in deep ocean trenches
BBC News–Oct 20, 2016

 500 ‘Champagne’ Methane Seeps Discovered Off Pacific Coast
Live Science–Oct 20, 2016

 Methane leak along the West Coast that could contribute to global …
Daily Mail–Oct 20, 2016

 There’s an Enormous Natural Gas Seep Along the West Coast
Gizmodo India–15 hours ago