Schmidt Ocean Institute

Schmidt Ocean Institute
Founded 2009
Founder
Location
Website Schmidt Ocean Institute home page

The Schmidt Ocean Institute is a non-profit private foundation focused on oceanography, founded in March 2009 by Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt.[1][2] The Institute’s goal is to advance ocean exploration, discovery, and knowledge using technological advances, data-rich observation and analysis, and open sharing of information.

The Schmidt Ocean Institute, which was previously known as the Schmidt Research Vessel Institute, has been awarded grants from the Schmidt Family Foundation for the purpose of owning and operating scientific research vessels.[3]

Research vessels

The Schmidt Ocean Institute has operated two research vessels, RV Lone Ranger and RV Falkor.

Lone Ranger, a 255-foot former ocean tug, was donated to the Institute by Peter B. Lewis in 2009 and was operated by the Institute in various Atlantic Ocean research cruises.[2][4] Lone Ranger was decommissioned from the Schmidt Ocean Institute scientific fleet in 2012.[5]

Lone Ranger's successor is RV Falkor, a 272-foot former German fisheries protection vessel purchased from the German government in 2009.[6] Between 2009 and 2012, Falkor underwent an extensive refit at the Peters Schiffbau shipyard in Germany to convert it into a globally capable oceanographic research vessel.[7][8][9]

The refit cost $60 million, and in addition to its own equipment, Falkor will at times also carry equipment from other oceanographic organizations, such as the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Nereus underwater vehicle, for exploring the Mariana Trench.[10]

Research proposals for time aboard Falkor are peer reviewed by independent scientists. Program managers favor open data projects, but data sharing is not a requirement. If a project is accepted, the ship time is free to the researchers, but they must find additional funding for their salaries and post-cruise science.[10][11]

Falkor is intended to be a long-term global resource, integrating the latest technology into ocean exploration. Schmidt Ocean Institute program managers have encouraged scientists from around the world to apply for ship time; although the first cruises scheduled will be led by US and Canadian researchers, researchers from 23 countries applied in the most recent round of research proposals.[10][11]

Activities and expeditions

The Schmidt Ocean Institute has undertaken multiple research projects in collaboration with organizations including the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping Joint Hydrographic Center, IFREMER, the Center for Environmental Visualization, the Marine Science and Technology Foundation, and various universities and oceanographic research institutions.

Schmidt Ocean Institute researchers and research vessels have studied remote coral reef conditions at the Kiritimati atoll, deep-water coral habitats using ROVs, Atlantic marine pollutants and biofuel candidates in the North Atlantic Gyre and Sargasso Sea, and the long-term effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[12][13]

In March 2013, a team aboard RV Falkor started conducting a multibeam mapping survey of the Campeche Escarpment in the Gulf of Mexico, which may provide insight into geological records for the Chicxulub crater.[14]

During field trials in July 2012 of the multibeam echo sounding equipment on RV Falkor, the team aboard discovered the wreck of lost polar expedition ship Terra Nova off the southern coast of Greenland.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "The Schmidt Family Foundation and Subsidiaries Consolidated Financial Statements Years Ended December 31, 2010 and 2009" (PDF). Schmidt Family Foundation website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 TheoDP (15 Feb 2011). "LIFE AFTER GOOGLE: Eric Schmidt's $60 Million Ocean Adventure,". Businessinsider.com. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "The Schmidt Family Foundation 2009 IRS Form 990-PF" (PDF). Schmidt Family Foundation website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Sargasso Sea research expedition equipment". Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Previous Ship, Lone Ranger". Schmidt Ocean Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "R/V Falkor Field Trials 2012". Schmidt Ocean Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "R/V Falkor Specifications". Schmidt Ocean Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "R/V Falkor Refit". Schmidt Ocean Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Germany: Peters Schiffbau Shipyard Completes RV FALKOR's Refit Project". Shipbuildingtribune.com. 23 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  10. 1 2 3 Alexandra Witze (27 March 2013). "Private research ship makes waves". Nature. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  11. 1 2 "Push the boat out". Nature. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  12. ↑ "Projects". Schmidt Ocean Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Expeditions". Schmidt Ocean Institute website.
  14. ↑ "Imaging the K-T Boundary". Schmidt Ocean Institute website. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  15. ↑ Paul Rincon (16 August 2012). "Scott's wrecked ship Terra Nova found off Greenland". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
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