Our friend and ocean expert Dr. Leslie Sautter will be in Charleston on March 16, 2011 to give a talk that she promises will be riveting to all interested in the study of our oceans.  Dr. Sautter is a good friend to Dewees, offering lots of counsel and education to our community over the years.  Her students at the College of Charleston have done several longitudinal studies of our island and beaches.  Here’s what she said in an email to me.  The “official” seminar announcement is at the end.

I will be visiting Charleston soon, and will give a talk Wednesday, March 16th on the work I’m involved with during my sabbatical at U Washington.  Please pass this on to your colleagues, students and friends, and I hope you can attend as well.  The OOI RSN truly will revolutionize ocean studies, beginning in the next 2 years.  Understanding the oceans is critical to understanding climate change and the mechanics of our Ocean Planet.

I will have an informal information/discussion session after the talk so that if you can’t get to the talk at 4:15, there will be time to learn more afterwards.  Bring a thumb drive with 2 GB of space and you can copy the 12 minute HD video of highlights of our ENLIGHTEN ’10 expedition.

Thanks!
Leslie

The New Era of Ocean Science Research and Discovery:  The NE Pacific’s Cabled Ocean Observatory

Dr. Leslie Sautter, College of Charleston, Dept. of Geology and Environmental Geosciences

Wednesday, March 16, 4:15 PM

New Science Center, College of Charleston (corner of Coming and Calhoun Streets)

The National Science Foundation’s investment of over more than $350 million launches a new era in the way we observe and study our planet.  The Ocean Observatories Initiative’s Regional Scale Nodes (OOI RSN) – formerly called NEPTUNE – is operated by the University of Washington.  The OOI RSN will have a network of fiber optic cables to supply continuous high power and high bandwidth to scientific instruments and HD video cameras on and above the seafloor.  Two sites will be instrumented on the Juan de Fuca Plate off the coasts of Washington and Oregon:  Hydrate Ridge is an area on the edge of the continental margin and plate subduction zone, rich with seeping methane gas and rock methane hydrates; Axial Seamount is an active underwater volcano with numerous hydrothermal vent chimneys located on the Juan de Fuca spreading ridge, ~250 miles offshore.  When construction is complete in 2014, real-time data will be accessible to anyone on the internet, and the deep sea will be within view for many new discoveries and incredible educational opportunities.

Educators, scientists, students and the public are all encouraged to attend. This talk will include recent video of hydrothermal vent communities and animations of the exciting near-future of ocean science and engineering.

There will be a discussion session for additional information following the talk.

Please view the project’s website at:  http://interactiveoceans.washington.edu <http://interactiveoceans.washington.edu/>