UNOLS is pleased to share the following announcement from the DeSSC Chair, Dr. Peter Girguis;
Dear Colleagues
I am writing to invite you to attend the 2nd DEep Submergence science for the Next Decade workshop (or DESCEND-2) on January 14th and 15th, 2016 at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
The DESCEND-2 workshop is aimed at defining 1) the critical scientific goals of the submergence community, 2) the technological directions that will be required to address these goals, and 3) the means by which federal, industry, and non-profit organizations might work in concert to enable activities and facilitate discoveries that might otherwise be prohibitive.
The details of this workshop will be developed over the coming weeks. Broadly speaking, however, we will start with some online surveys prior to the workshop, which will be aimed at identifying the "critical scientific research themes" to be emphasized in the next decade. This will allow us to focus our time on defining what technological and methodological approaches are needed to address these objectives.
The outcome of these sessions will be a publicly-available report on the most critical questions in these respective areas of research, and –broadly speaking- the capacities needed to help address those questions. These findings will help to direct future strategies for upgrades to vehicles, science sensors, sampling techniques, and imaging capabilities of submersible vehicle systems funded by the federal agencies.
To facilitate your participation, we will be providing TWO nights of accommodations as well as all meals during the workshop. Unfortunately we are unable to provide any support for your transportation to and from the workshop as our resources are limited.
APPLICATION INFORMATION: To apply for the workshop, please complete the on-line form at <https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DESCEND2> no later than December 4th, 2015. Space at the workshop is limited and applications may close earlier if the workshop fills up. If you are unable to attend, but are interested in participating online, please let us know by emailing descend2@fas.harvard.edu. We will broadcast the workshop if there is sufficient demand.
Many thanks for your time and we look forward to hearing from you!
Regards,
Peter Girguis on behalf of all the members of DeSSC