Spring is a busy time for OECI. Expedition seasons are ramping up, proposals are being generated and submitted, and students are being assigned internships or are wrapping them up. With all this excitement, it's worth taking a moment to recognize one of the common threads that link all OECI activities, which is helping NOAA achieve its mission. OECI takes great pride in being able to work alongside NOAA in the mission to map, explore, and characterize the US EEZ, advance technologies that provide benefits across NOAA and other federal agencies, develop collaborations with industrial partners, support and maintain infrastructure that is mission critical to NOAA, and train the next generation of scientists, engineers, and communicators that will steward NOAA in the next decades. In the coming months, OECI will help NOAA conduct operations aboard NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer. This excellent example of the NOAA-OECI partnership illustrates how the expertise and flexibility within the OECI can meet the needs of NOAA to execute the mission together. In an increasingly hectic world, getting an opportunity to support a mission we all believe in feels great.

Deepest Regards,

Adam

OECI's First Graduate Student Conference

From March 11-12, 2025, 19 OECI graduate students, along with postdoctoral researchers and several OECI and NOAA staff (including Nina Pruzinsky and Jesse Gwinn), participated in the first OECI Grad Conference at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography in Narragansett, RI. The OECI Grad Conference provided a forum for students to share new scientific results from OECI projects, network across OECI institutions, and learn about Blue Economy career pathways and employment skill-building. Student presentations spanned a wide range of topics, including technology, uncrewed vehicles, eDNA, coral propagation, and more. Guest speakers presented on various career pathways or opportunities for graduate students, and NOAA Ocean Exploration’s Jesse Gwinn discussed NOAA internship and fellowship programs. Other presentations included workshops for proposal writing (Dr. Adam Soule, URI and Dr. Vishwa Sunkara, USM), effectively using LinkedIn (Mackensie duPont Crowley, URI), applying to USAjobs (Dr. Sofia Andeskie, National Park Service), and transitioning a CV to a resume (Cara Mitnick, URI). Ocean Exploration Trust (Noelle Helder), GreenseaIQ (Regina Yopak), WHOI (Allisa Dalpe), and Exail (Shayan Haque) also presented about non-profit and industry opportunities and career pathways. Professional headshots and practice interviews were also a key part of this conference. Overall, the conference was a great success and allowed the students to build a stronger OECI-student community.

Graduate students listening to Noelle Helder (OET) share her post graduate journey and job opportunities with OET.

2025 E/V Nautilus Expedtions Overview for Scientists Ashore

From May-September 2025, E/V Nautilus will conduct six multidisciplinary expeditions that will map and explore deep-sea priority areas in the western Pacific, including expeditions to the Mariana Islands, the Solomon Islands, the Marshall Islands, and Wake Atoll. The 2025 Season Kickoff Webinar took place on Tuesday, March 18th. The webinar recording can be accessed here. An overview of the science objectives of 2025 expeditions, as well as outline the planning process for each mission is provided in the recording. We encourage researchers from all disciplines and career levels to watch the recording of this introductory webinar and learn how to participate in the planning and implementation of E/V Nautilus expeditions as Scientists Ashore.

Register as a Scientist Ashore

If you would like to participate in our 2025 expeditions as a Scientist Ashore, or remain on expedition email lists, please complete the form at the Scientist Ashore link.

B2OE Alum: Building a BRUV

Bridge to Ocean Exploration alum Tim Melendez recently sailed on the R/V Endeavor to test URI’s new baited remote underwater video system (BRUV). Tim, currently an intern in Dr. Andy Davies’ lab, helped PhD student Christine DeSilva develop a BRUV. The system is designed to study Elasmobranchii species - sharks, skates, rays, and sawfish. 

Progress on Mapping U.S. Ocean, Coastal, and Great Lakes Waters

The Interagency Working Group on Ocean and Coastal Mapping announces progress on mapping U.S. ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters in an Office of Coast Survey blog post. Check out the full post here. An excerpt highlighting NOAA Ocean Exploration and OECI contributions is below: 

“More than half of the total new bathymetry coverage gains are in the U.S. Pacific Remote Island territories and Hawaiian waters, which are encompassed by the Beyond the Blue: Illuminating the Pacific campaign. These bathymetric gains were predominantly in water depths deeper than 200 meters and conducted aboard the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer through focused mapping expeditions around the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Atoll. Additional bathymetric contributions in the western Pacific were also made through NOAA Ocean Exploration funded expeditions executed via the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute.”

Papahanaumokuakea ROV + Mapping (EX2503)

From April 8 to May 5, 2025, NOAA Ocean Exploration and partners will conduct a telepresence-enabled ocean exploration and mapping expedition on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer to collect critical information and improve knowledge about unexplored and poorly understood deepwater areas within Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Monument.

iDoos 2025 Virtual Annual Meeting

OECI's Val Schmidt Named NOAA Team Member of the Month

Val Schmidt, a Research Project Engineer on the faculty of the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM) in Durham, New Hampshire, has been instrumental in developing NOAA’s ability to operate Uncrewed Marine Systems (UMS) for ocean mapping and surveys. He has worked in collaboration with NOAA for over a decade, driving dramatic increases in the efficiency of NOAA’s ocean mapping activities. Val has been an integral partner for OECI, and we are thrilled that he was named NOAA January Team Member of the Month!