$94 million Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute<\/a>, he will guide the efforts of five research institutions in support of ocean exploration and responsible resource management while improving the scientific understanding of the deep sea and strengthening the nation\u2019s blue economy.<\/p>\nUnder Soule\u2019s leadership, the five partners in the Cooperative Institute will spend the coming years working closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Office of Ocean Exploration to survey and characterize an estimated 3 billion acres of U.S. ocean territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cooperative Institute is, to me, a really exciting opportunity for the ocean science community,\u201d Soule said. \u201cOur goal is to develop the technology needed to explore the ocean more effectively and efficiently. And my vision is for the Institute to develop new tools and take them all the way to operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many technology prototypes that never really become effective tools because scientists only have the resources to build one,\u201d he added. \u201cBut this institute has the resources to develop technology, test it, put it into use and deliver it to the oceanographic community. We\u2019ll be able to accelerate that process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cooperative Institute will collaborate with NOAA to explore the seafloor in U.S. territorial waters, as well as the mid-water zone where 95 percent of all marine creatures are found. It will also explore the surface of the sea in cooperation with the National Geographic Society.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Soule brings an incredible vision for the science and technology of the Cooperative Institute that is well in line with the science and technology objectives of ocean exploration at NOAA,\u201d said Paula Bontempi, dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography. \u201cI\u2019m also thrilled to have him join the GSO Marine Geology and Geophysics faculty as an expert in submarine eruptions and investigative technologies, science that is extremely complementary to our existing faculty and globally relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prior to his appointment at URI, Soule was chief scientist for deep submergence at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, where he provided scientific guidance for the National Deep Submergence Facility. He also conducted research on underwater volcanoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am interested in how submarine volcanoes work, how frequently they erupt, and how they impact the environment around them,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a huge amount of exploration and discovery involved in this work, and since they\u2019re in places that are difficult to get to, it\u2019s been my privilege to go to the seafloor in a submersible and see things no one has seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he arrives on the URI Narragansett Bay Campus, Soule plans to go on a listening tour to meet the faculty and staff of the Graduate School of Oceanography to learn how they would like to interact with the Cooperative Institute. Among his other priorities is the development of a strategic plan \u201cso we are advancing down a path rather than imagining what\u2019s going to happen year by year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Soule is especially looking forward to the new research ship that will be operated by URI beginning in 2023 and the construction of a new Ocean Technology Building, which he sees as useful elements in accomplishing his goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose were key factors in my decision to come to GSO because they showed that the state of Rhode Island is supporting oceanography,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ship will be a new modern platform that can be a testbed for technologies, and the building will attract engineers to develop these new technologies. These facilities will be perfectly aligned with the Cooperative Institute, so this is a great time to come to GSO.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to URI, the partners in the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute are the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Ocean Exploration Trust, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Southern Mississippi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Adam Soule is not only a new professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Graduate School of Oceanography, he is set to lead one of the largest research initiatives in the University\u2019s history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2165,"featured_media":164578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[2737,301,638,668,608],"class_list":["post-164890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-adam-soule","tag-marine-geology-and-geophysics","tag-ocean-exploration","tag-ocean-exploration-trust","tag-volcanism"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164890"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":175145,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164890\/revisions\/175145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}