Southern Surveyor heads off for her first research voyage this year
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor Leave a commentAfter successful sea trials, the Marine National Facility vessel Southern Surveyor will head off for her first research voyage for 2012, and she won’t be back in Hobart until early July.
Over the next week she’ll transit up the east coast and spend a day in port in Brisbane, before heading out with CSIRO’s Ken Ridgway and his team, to deploy floats and buoys along the East Australian Current. The voyage will leave Brisbane on 20 April and return to Brisbane on 30 April.
Then it’s over to Professor Richard Arculus from the Australian National University, who will be conducting magmatism, tectonics and hydrothermal activity research on the Marine National Facility vessel, near Fiji in early May.
If you want to keep track of Southern Surveyor this year, then check out the schedule for 2012/13 at: http://www.marine.csiro.au/nationalfacility/schedules/index.htm
CMAR Science Symposium – networking and collaborating
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentCSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Division held a symposium in Hobart to encourage collaboration and networking within the division.
The Marine National Facility and the Future Research Vessel Project thought it a perfect opportunity to start discussions among scientists about what will be possible on board RV Investigator.
While collaborations have been possible onboard Southern Surveyor, it’s always been fairly limited as there are only 14 scientific berths. This will change with Investigator, which will have up to 40 scientific berths. This new era in marine and atmospheric scientific research will open up new opportunities for scientists across different disciplines to work together on the same voyage.
Meet one of our team – Dr Lindsay Pender
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Investigator, Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor, The Future Research Vessel Project Leave a commentWe have an amazing team of specialists assembled for the Future Research Vessel Project and you should meet some of them. This is Dr Lindsay Pender.
Lindsay Pender started his research career in Canada looking at the electrical properties of polymers, before returning to Australia as a research fellow at the Australian National University, where he looked into how high energy ions can affect solid films. After he joined CSIRO in 1985 to work on the Bunyip-Marine research project, Lindsay progressively became more involved with ocean physics and modelling.
Lindsay now works in Hobart within Marine and Atmospheric Research. Initially he worked on the development of our SeaSoar research tool that gathered horizontal profiles from the depths of the Southern Ocean. Lindsay says the SeaSoar is by far his favourite research gadget, having been used for 23 years before sadly being lost at sea.
‘The information that came back from it was always amazing, it really showed you how dynamic the ocean can be’, Lindsay said.
The information gained from the SeaSoar project has helped to better understand the dynamics of ocean ecosystems and improve fisheries management.
Lindsay’s current role on the FRV Technical Team for the development of the new Marine National Facility vessel, RV Investigator, has him pinned as more of a jack of all trades.
He liaises with the ship’s designers and the scientists who will use the new ship, to ensure the IT specifications will be able to handle the data being relayed from the oceans’ depths.
‘I do get a buzz out of working with the various scientific communities. This work is much more diverse than I’ve had involvement with in the past, because I’m trying to understand the science they’re involved with and how best to extend the science on the new ship’, Lindsay explained.
Lindsay has been onboard Indonesian, French and North American research vessels observing the techniques used by other teams in what he describes as ‘opportunistic skill sharing voyages’.
‘I’ve spent a lot of time at sea, but I’m one of the lucky ones that don’t get severely sea sick’, he said.
Ironically, while Lindsay’s not at sea on the research vessel his hobby is… boat building.
Check out the PM onboard Southern Surveyor!
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Investigator, Marine National Facility, Media Releases, RV Southern Surveyor Leave a commentThe Prime Minister Julia Gillard toured the Marine National Facility vessel Southern Surveyor and was briefed on the Future Research Vessel Project.
- The Prime Minister Julia Gillard toured the Marine National Facility vessel, Southern Surveyor along with other state and federal politicians in January 2012.
- Southern Surveyor Master, Capt Michael Watson, briefs the Prime Minister on some of the vessel’s research capabilities.
- As part of the tour of Southern Surveyor, the Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Senator Lisa Singh and Tasmanian Deputy Premier Bryan Green were briefed by CMAR Chief Bruce Mapstone.
- Prime Minister Julia Gillard listens to the CSIRO’s Ron Plaschke (R) discuss the CSIRO’s new Research Vessel Investigator with (L to R) Senator Lisa Singh, MHR Julie Collins and Acting Premier Bryan Green on the bridge of the Southern Surveyor.
Mawson Centenary Flotilla
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor Leave a commentOn Friday 2 December 2011 the River Derwent in Hobart hosted a flotilla to commemorate the centenary of Sir Douglas Mawson’s first Australian scientific research voyage to Antarctica.
To celebrate Australia’s marine science research achievements, the Marine National Facility vessel managed by CSIRO, RV Southern Surveyor, took part in the flotilla.
Mawson Flotilla map
Southern Surveyor heads home to Hobart for 2011
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Marine National Facility, RV Southern Surveyor Leave a commentThe final Southern Surveyor voyage for 2011 has been completed. It was a project looking at the Perth Abyssal Plain with Professor Deitmar Mueller and Dr Joanne Whittaker, to research the Eastern Gondwana break-up.
Researchers from the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and the University of Tasmania led an international team of scientists on the voyage to map the seafloor of the Perth Abyssal Plain. The expedition returned to Perth after a three-week research voyage.
To read more about this research voyage go to: http://sydney.edu.au/news/science/397.html?newsstoryid=8198