Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 16)

IN GALILEO’S WA K E Say the word “ocean,” and most people think of waves breaking on a beach. But the place where surfers ride and ships sail is only the thin razor’s edge. “The ocean is actually a vast volume, 4 to 5 kilometers deep, that is our life support system on earth,” says John Delaney ’64, professor of oceanography at the University of Washington and one of the lead researchers on the Ocean Observatories Initiative. BY ELIZABETH SHIMER BOWERS D 16 lehigh alumni bulletin elaney should know. He’s spent the past 40 or so years of his life diving into the ocean, literally and ﬁguratively. Now, together with a team of scientists from several other institutions, he’s heading up a multifaceted effort to study many aspects of the ocean through a combination of Internet-linked cables, and buoys connected to submerged data collection devices like seismometers, current meters, salinity probes, mobile robots bristling with sen- sors, and clusters of high-deﬁnition cameras. As he talks about the ocean—its effect on climate, the bizarre creatures that live there, and the new frontier of oceanic exploration on which he and his colleagues have embarked— Delaney’s true passion for his work is evident, both in the glimmer in his eye and in his eloquent descriptions of the endless applications of his work. This passion has translated into a groundbreaking research initiative slated to launch in 2010 that could change the way we view the ocean. The program, known as the Ocean Observatories Initiative, is slated to spend $331 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on construction of a novel and far-ﬂung infrastructure that will use both wireless and wired communications to bring the oceans to laboratories, classrooms, and living rooms with access to the Internet. Delaney is no stranger to the NSF; the organization has been

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Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Alumni News Cover Story: In Galileo's Wake Technically Funny The Healing Game Looking for America The Last Word

Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008

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