UGA/SkIO R/V Savannah Ship Operations - CY 2018-2022

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Overview:This request is to fund the first year, 2018, of a five-year cooperative agreement for Ship Operations ofthe Research Vessel Savannah. Built at the Maine shipyard of Washburn and Doughty and delivered tothe UGA/Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in 2001, the 92-foot coastal research vessel was designedto provide researchers with a versatile platform to conduct primarily federally-funded oceanographicresearch and educational activities in the southeastern U.S. With its moderate draft, the R/V Savannah iscapable of working in a variety of environments, from coastal rivers and estuaries to the outer continentalshelf and beyond. The ship funds will support a variety peer-reviewed NSF funded projects. A technical Description:Over the past 17 years, and in the next five, the R/V Savannah has continued and will continue todemonstrate its ability to host a large number of scientific cruises with a broad spectrum of missionrequirements by providing a vessel with excellent range and endurance for its class, robust overboardhandling systems and the capacity to berth 16 scientists plus 6 crew. For example, federally-fundedprojects over the past two years used the R/V Savannah to assess the role of vitamin B-12 and nitrogenavailability on the regulation of oceanic dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethylsulfide (DMS)across a 250 nautical mile transect from the inner continental shelf to the Sargasso Sea; to study solubleiron fluxing in continental shelf margins using benthic lander deployments to 2500 meters and sedimentcollections to 1000 meters off the North Carolina capes; to quantify the cryptic diet of the globallysignificant pelagic tunicate Dolioletta gegenbauri on the mid-shelf of the South Atlantic Bight, and tomeasure the health of fish stocks from northern Georgia waters to south Florida. The R/V Savannah hasalso supported Navy ship trials and shock tests, ONR glider operations and the maintenance ofmeteorological data buoys as well as a variety of educational programs. All of the aforementionedprojects were federally funded by NSF, ONR or NOAA. 2018 and years following will have somecontinuing projects and new research activities, mostly supported with federal funds.Purposefully designed with a large science berthing capacity, the R/V Savannah is well suited to providelearning opportunities in ocean and estuarine environments and to demonstrate oceanographic researchmethodologies to diverse student populations. In 2017, the R/V Savannah hosted 30 undergraduate, 40graduate students, 23 high school science teachers and students, and 19 observers across 25 cruises. Incollaboration with Savannah State University, the R/V Savannah continued to host the two-day ResearchExperiences for Undergraduates (REU) cruise (OCE-1460457) in 2017, giving students from all over theU.S. the opportunity to experience life at sea aboard a working research vessel by conducting standardsampling regimes across the continental shelf to be used in student research papers. The state of Georgiaand Skidaway Institute of Oceanography regularly provide 5+ days per year, to support beginninginvestigator and graduate student research. To better inform and educate the public about advances inocean sciences, the R/V Savannah is open to the public for guided tours each year, including the annualUGA/Skidaway Institute of Oceanography Marine Science Day which draws 1800-2500 participantsannually.The Statement of Merit Review: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.