University of Minnesota Duluth R/V Blue Heron SSSE 2016

A request is made to fund additional and back-up instrumentation for the R/V Blue Heron, an 86 foot Coastal Vessel owned by the University of Minnesota and operated by the Large Lakes Observatory as part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) research fleet.

The Large Lakes Observatory operates the largest university-owned research vessel on the Great Lakes, the R/V Blue Heron. Built in 1985 for fishing on the Grand Banks, the Blue Heron was purchased by the University of Minnesota in 1997, sailed from Portland, Maine, up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Duluth, and converted into a Limnologic research vessel during the winter of 1997-98. She is outfitted with state-of-the-art research equipment, has berthing for 11 crew and scientists, and can operate 24 hours per day for up to 21 days in between port calls. The Blue Heron is part of the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), and is available for charter by research scientists on any of the Great Lakes. In 2015, the vessel completed 40 funded days where 6 (15%) were for NSF. In 2016, Blue Heron is currently scheduled for 61 days, 23 of these (38%) will be for NSF.

Shipboard Scientific Support Equipment requested in this proposal includes:

New Crane Installation $153,101

Broader Impacts

The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 13-589). It provides infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF). The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.