Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 17)

funding his work on and off for the past 30 years, including his many dives to the sea ﬂoor using the research submarine Alvin. So, in a way, the NSF culture had a part in shaping his current focus. “This research began to emerge at ﬁrst as a preoccupation, and then a fascination, and, eventually, a total passion,” Delaney says. “One of the things I do for a living is dive to the sea ﬂoor in a research submarine, and, when you do this, you realize that you can’t see much through the windows. After all, you are 21⁄2 kilometers down and there is no daylight. “Plus, you might do 15 to 20 dives, one per day, on an expedition, but then it could be a year or two until you get back to the same location,” he says. “In that time, things can change rather dramatically if your research focus is on the evolution of submarine volcanoes.” Delaney realized there was never going to be a way to truly understand the ocean by visiting a single area for 15 to 20 days every two years. “So that’s when I began thinking about how we could make ocean exploration better,” he says. “One of my colleagues told me about ﬁber optic cable, and we began talking about stringing a ﬁber optic cable with a power curcuit from the shoreline all the way out to the active volcanoes 250 kilometers off the coast of Washington and Oregon. “And the more I talked to various people doing other oceanic research, the more I heard, ‘Well, if you are going to do that, then I could … assess ﬁsh stock, track whales, monitor large earthquakes, study underwater avalanches. It became a movement.” “If life as we know it exists beyond earth, it will most likely be on planets with oceans and volcanoes, so understanding the evolution of our own system is a step toward an even more profound discovery— whether or not we are alone.” —John Delaney Ecogenomic sensors will monitor some of the smallest ocean dwellers, including bacteria and other microbes. These sensors will collect DNA and protein information from the water to determine what microbes are present and how they respond to changes in their watery environment. spring 2008 17

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008

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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