Facilities

University of Rhode Island volcanologist Steven Carey is participating in a scientific investigation of hydrothermal vents in the crater of an ancient underwater volcano off the coast of Greece. He is helping to direct remotely operated vehicles deployed from the exploration ship Nautilus to collect water and sediment samples, and he is discussing the findings with shipboard scientists.

But Carey isn’t aboard the Nautilus. He’s not even in Greece or elsewhere in Europe. He is sitting in the Inner Space Center at URI, where he can participate in the research expedition from thousands of miles away without having to spend weeks at sea.

The URI GSO Inner Space Center (ISC) supported two ships streaming live high-definition video from remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) working in two very different parts of the world; the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer exploring the mid-Cayman Rise region of the Caribbean for hydrothermal vents, and simultaneously, the E/V Nautilus exploring the Black Sea for ancient shipwrecks.

GSO is celebrating 50 years of research, innovation and discovery in 2011. To commemorate its 50th anniversary, GSO will be holding a number of events open to the public on the weekend of June 25-26 at the URI Bay Campus in Narragansett.

Researchers at the URI seismology lab, led by Yang Shen (GSO) and Brian Savage, have created a computer simulation of the March 11 Japan earthquake using a 3-dimensional wave speed model of the earth's crust running on a supercomputer cluster. To help to visualize the details of the earthquake, the team created a short movie that shows five minutes of shaking after the earthquake.  The movie, posted on the seismology lab website, shows the ground rising and falling as the energy of the earthquake passes. The tsunami is not shown in this simulation. The blue circles depict the location of Tokyo.

GSO has prepared a profile that provides an overview of GSO's programs in research, education, and outreach, as well as a description of the Narragansett Bay campus and its facilities. You can download a PDF of the brochure by clicking on this link.

Professor Robert Ballard chatted with CBS News reporter Lara Logan in the Inner Space Center during an interview aired on 60 Minutes on Nov. 29.

Quonset Development Corporation's Managing Director Steven J. King, P.E.was joined by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and U.S. Senator Jack Reed to break ground on construction of a research and office center for the NOAA Okeanos Explorer on October 26th, 2009. Quonset will be the homeport for the 250-foot research vessel, its crew of 24 and 19 scientists.

With the demolition of the old Pell Library building in May, construction of the new Ocean Science & Exploration Center (OSEC) isnow complete. The facility forms a physical and intellectual campus center that houses the new Pell Marine Science Library, meeting rooms, the Nautilus Galley, the GSO Computer Center, the UNOLS office, administrative offices, the new exploration and archaeological oceanographic programs led by Dr. Robert Ballard, and the Inner Space Center directed by Dr. Dwight Coleman.

Dr. John Merrill worked with SecondWind (a commercial manufacturer) to install one of their vertical wind profilers on the GSO dock to test its capabilities in harsh marine environments and its environmental impact. Wind profiles are extremely important for siting energy-producing wind turbines.