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Week 7: Unwritten Rules

Week 7 class plan on unwritten rules of deep-sea science

Published onMar 26, 2024
Week 7: Unwritten Rules
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9 Apr 2024

Overview

In this class, we will think about some of the “unwritten rules” of deep sea science, which are very different than other areas of ocean science that may be shore-based, field-station based, are less exploratory, or require less collaboration by nature. We will discuss (among other things), chain of command; cultural awareness when working in new spaces as a guest; data sharing etiquette; naming sites/things; and conflict resolution.

Goals

  • At-sea: To get an operational view of the on-ship “rules of the road”: Chain of command, how to participate as a Chief Scientist of guest scientist on a ship, how to respectfully operate and integrate with the ship operations

  • Discovery: To discuss the protocol, convention, and guidance for naming new seamounts, features, sites, and species

  • Collaboration: To discuss some of the hard points about collaboration in deep-sea science regarding authorship, fundraising responsibilities, and collaboration expectations

Pre-Class Activities

Class Plan & Materials

  • 14:00 (55 min): Life Aboard the Falkor (too) - Interactions between Science party & crew

    • Philipp Guenther - biography below. Ship’s Captain to discuss Chain of Command onboard and how to interact with the ship’s operations as a member of the science party / science lead (30 min)

    • Q&A (25 min)

  • 14:55 (5 min): Break

  • 15:00 (55 min): Unwritten Rules (aka “we can do hard things”)

    • Seamount mapping, discovery, and naming rules for sites, seamounts, and species; Scientist-to-scientist collaborative understandings in the deep sea: data sharing etiquette, publication authorship etiquette, funding etiquette; Morale tips and tricks; Life on a ship: how to be respectful of crew time, meal time, someone is always sleeping, safety rules, etc., Randi Rotjan (30 min)

    • Q&A (25 min)

  • 15:55 (5 min): Wrap-up and Prep for Next Class

Captain Jan Philipp Guenther - Master, R/V Falkor (too), Schmidt Ocean Institute, grew up around Hamburg, Germany initially studying physics for 4 semesters and then changed into maritime studies. P. Guenther then eventually moved onto a research vessel after completing studies in nautical sciences in Leer, Germany. After working on 3 different German national research vessels as second and first officer (RV Alkor (55m coastal), RV Poseidon (65m, coastal and north Atlantic) and RV Maria S. Merian (95m, Mediterranean, entire Atlantic down to Tristan da Cunha and up to north of Iceland)), P. Guenther joined the Schmidt Ocean Institute on their RV Falkor in 2013 as Chief Officer, had his first dip as Master in 2014 and was permanently promoted in 2018. He is currently Master onboard the R/V Falkor (too).

Additional Resources

Note: these are the “Written Rules”

Slides

  • Randi Rotjan’s Presentation

Post-Class Dream Cruise Project Development

See the Dream Cruise Project Overview Template for additional context.

  • Flesh out a third objective from your dream project proposal idea

For next week’s Dream Cruise Check-In class, see the pre-class activity for how to prepare your presentation.

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