University of Minnesota Duluth R/V Blue Heron Ship Operations - CY 2018-2022

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Overview:This proposal is a request for funds for Shipboard Operations on the RV Blue Heron, an 86ft-researchvessel that is owned by the University of Minnesota and operated by the Large Lakes Observatory (LLO).The award will cover the 2018 to 2022 field seasons, with annual reports providing detailed informationfor the 2019 to 2022 seasons. During the 2018 calendar year, two NSF-peered reviewed funded projects have requestedthe ship for 22 days:* Samuel Kelly (Univ. of Minnesota): 9 days, 'Collaborative research: Coastal inertial-band dynamics:separating forced and free responses in a natural laboratory' (OCE/PO-1635560).* Tedy Ozersky (Univ. of Minnesota): 13 days, 'Ecosystem-scale responses of coupled C-N-P cycles todramatic shifts in benthic communities: the Upper Great Lakes' (OCE/CO-1737368).Intellectual Merit:Work done aboard the R/V Blue Heron is in support of NSF funded research programs. The intellectualmerit for these research programs is normally reviewed separately as part of a research proposal to NSF.Kelly's project (OCE/PO-1635560) will quantify coastal kinetic-energy pathways using realisticnumerical simulations and extensive direct observations of winds, turbulence and near-inertial wavesalong lacustrine coastlines and rough coastal bathymetry. The project will improve our understanding ofnear inertial motions throughout the coastal ocean and in large lakes. Ozersky's project (OCE/CO-1737368) will study the effects of invasive zebra and quagga mussels on the biology and chemistry of theGreat Lakes. The impact of benthic communities on carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in freshwatersystems at the ecosystem level are understudied and the mechanisms for how these nutrients are affectedby the introduction of dreissenid mussel invasives are unclear. Ozersky's work will advance theunderstanding of the ecology of the Great Lakes and improve models of sediment-water columninteractions in aquatic ecosystems.The two projects will involve students in all aspects of the research. In addition to facilitating researchprojects on the Great Lakes, the R/V Blue Heron has numerous educational or 'class cruises' during theyear (9 during 2017), enabling undergraduate and graduate students to participate in work on a researchvessel with equipment typically used on larger, ocean going, research vessels. Beyond the class cruises,undergraduate and graduate students participate on almost every RV Blue Heron cruise as researchassistants and, sometimes, chief scientist. Additionally, we have hosted Chief Scientist Training cruisesover the last four years, during which early career scientists (senior graduate students, post-docs, and 1styear faculty) are educated about UNOLS and directly immersed in planning and undertaking a scientificexpedition. Dockside, we give tours to University of Minnesota students, undergraduates from otherinstitutions and have established a dock-side monthly tour and seminar series for members of the generalpublic. Over the last five years, approximately 4,500 members of the public have toured the vessel aspart of the seminar series.Regarding specific broader impacts, Kelly's project (OCE/PO-1635560) will help improve theinterpretation of numerical models used in coastal settings. Ozersky's project (OCE/CO-1737368) willcreate online content for educators and the public, and will host outreach events at Duluth's Great LakesAquarium, Milwaukee's Discovery World Science Museum and Chicago's Shedd Aquarium and NavyPier.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.