Being a chief/lead scientist is a big responsibility, but it is made easier by planning ahead and breaking up tasks and deadlines into smaller and more manageable goals. In this lesson, we discuss and work on activities that should help you to think through the steps needed to prepare for an expedition as the lead scientist, divide responsibilities among the research team, and get cruise participants to think ahead about how they can get ready for a successful and enjoyable experience at sea. Also provided are example documents you can use as templates and guides.
Goals
Understand how to assess and prioritize the science needs of the expedition team, to communicate these needs with vessel operators
Understand what a Shiptime/Marine Equipment Request form might look like.
Understand what to consider when working in various ports re: permitting & logistics
Understand what types of content are helpful to have in a Cruise Prospectus
Understand that a primary role of the Lead Scientist is to set the expectations, preparedness, safety, civility and respect.
Pre-Class Activities
Watch this video (20 min) about how to plan an extreme overland adventure expedition. While it is not about the deep sea, it covers similar planning themes, and will hopefully help you think outside the box and frame your mental approach to the task of planning a deep-sea expedition.
Work on Objective 2 of your Dream Cruise
Class Plan & Materials
Hour 1
15 min: All Group Activity: Everyone takes 1 minute to think about the 5 things you wish you had brought on your last cruise. We will each share one of those things with each other and have a short discussion about the importance of planning.
30 min: Lecture
10 min: All group activity - Beth demos the Marine Facilities Portal for Ship/Marine Equipment Requests, shows the different sections of a request
5 min: Break
Hour 2
30 min: Lecture
10 min: All group activity - review example resources
10 min: Discussion: What have you seen at sea that you didn’t think was safe?
5 min: Open questions
5 min: Wrap up, prep for next week
Additional Resources
Examples of common documents a US-based Chief Scientist needs to make and/or distribute:
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0)