Collaborative Research: IDBR: Type A: Diver-Operated Imaging Platform with Complementary Systems for Quantifying Aquatic Organism Interactions

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An award is made to the California Institute of Technology and other collaborating organizations including Providence College, Roger Williams University and the University of Texas at Austin to do research and development of a new diver-operated technology to measure key biological and physical processes that affect the health of the ocean and the organisms therein. The ability to conduct science directly in the ocean environment will be a unique national capability that will transform our understanding of the ocean and can potentially enable prediction of adverse impacts on industries such as fishing and coastal tourism. The project will advance the study of marine biology by extending previous laboratory research into more realistic experiments in the field. Importantly, the technology developed during this project will be made available free-of-charge to other U.S. researchers through a loan program developed and tested under prior NSF support. A small business will collaborate with the researchers toward low-cost manufacturing of the technology. The project will support a diverse workforce through the hiring and training of a full-time graduate student and summer students recruited through a program of targeted research opportunities for underrepresented students. These researchers will conduct laboratory and field work at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, exposing them to front-line field research.Knowledge of aquatic animal ecology depends upon accurate measurement of individual organisms for critical processes such as feeding, behavior, and associated fluid motions. Imaging of these interactions has yielded important advances in the understanding of these processes, but has depended primarily upon the controlled conditions of the laboratory. Laboratory conditions allow advanced optical configurations to provide high spatial and temporal resolution moving images within highly controlled conditions. However, these same controlled and defined conditions may also inadvertently create artificial environments that affect the outcome of natural process measurements. The goal of this research is to enable in situ measurements that combine novel daytime particle image velocimetry (PIV); high-resolution, collimated brightfield imaging, and three-dimensional image holography. This new technology will enable (1) direct quantification of complex processes, such as feeding and swimming in turbulent flows under variable lighting conditions, (2) detailed field measurements of animals that are important in the environment but comparatively intractable for controlled laboratory studies, and (3) field confirmation of laboratory data on processes such as predator-prey interactions.