University of Minnesota Duluth R/V Blue Heron Ship Operations - CY 2018-2022

Overview:

This proposal is a request for funds for Shipboard Operations on the RV Blue Heron, an 86ft-research

vessel that is owned by the University of Minnesota and operated by the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO).

The award will cover the 2018 to 2022 field seasons, with annual reports providing detailed information

for the 2019 to 2022 seasons. During the 2018 calendar year, two NSF-peered reviewed funded projects have requested

the ship for 22 days:

* Samuel Kelly (Univ. of Minnesota): 9 days, 'Collaborative research: Coastal inertial-band dynamics:

separating forced and free responses in a natural laboratory' (OCE/PO-1635560).

* Tedy Ozersky (Univ. of Minnesota): 13 days, 'Ecosystem-scale responses of coupled C-N-P cycles to

dramatic shifts in benthic communities: the Upper Great Lakes' (OCE/CO-1737368).

Intellectual Merit:

Work done aboard the R/V Blue Heron is in support of NSF funded research programs. The intellectual

merit for these research programs is normally reviewed separately as part of a research proposal to NSF.

Kelly's project (OCE/PO-1635560) will quantify coastal kinetic-energy pathways using realistic

numerical simulations and extensive direct observations of winds, turbulence and near-inertial waves

along lacustrine coastlines and rough coastal bathymetry. The project will improve our understanding of

near inertial motions throughout the coastal ocean and in large lakes. Ozersky's project (OCE/CO-

1737368) will study the effects of invasive zebra and quagga mussels on the biology and chemistry of the

Great Lakes. The impact of benthic communities on carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in freshwater

systems at the ecosystem level are understudied and the mechanisms for how these nutrients are affected

by the introduction of dreissenid mussel invasives are unclear. Ozersky's work will advance the

understanding of the ecology of the Great Lakes and improve models of sediment-water column

interactions in aquatic ecosystems.

The two projects will involve students in all aspects of the research. In addition to facilitating research

projects on the Great Lakes, the R/V Blue Heron has numerous educational or 'class cruises' during the

year (9 during 2017), enabling undergraduate and graduate students to participate in work on a research

vessel with equipment typically used on larger, ocean going, research vessels. Beyond the class cruises,

undergraduate and graduate students participate on almost every RV Blue Heron cruise as research

assistants and, sometimes, chief scientist. Additionally, we have hosted Chief Scientist Training cruises

over the last four years, during which early career scientists (senior graduate students, post-docs, and 1st

year faculty) are educated about UNOLS and directly immersed in planning and undertaking a scientific

expedition. Dockside, we give tours to University of Minnesota students, undergraduates from other

institutions and have established a dock-side monthly tour and seminar series for members of the general

public. Over the last five years, approximately 4,500 members of the public have toured the vessel as

part of the seminar series.

Regarding specific broader impacts, Kelly's project (OCE/PO-1635560) will help improve the

interpretation of numerical models used in coastal settings. Ozersky's project (OCE/CO-1737368) will

create online content for educators and the public, and will host outreach events at Duluth's Great Lakes

Aquarium, Milwaukee's Discovery World Science Museum and Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and Navy

Pier.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.