Science & Education Committee

Committee Chair - Dr. Jose Jones  scienceandeducation@nabsdivers.org

The Science & Education committee has under its' charge the: (1) coordination of all scientific and educational activities under the organization's underwater umbrella, (2) it monitors projects and assist clubs when requested, (3) acts as a clearing house for proposed projects and attempts to secure funding sources for approved projects, and (4) makes sure that clubs are made aware of the SCUBA magnitude of the Science & Education projects through an inventory of projects that are posted online.
 

The Science & Education is working on the following projects:

 

1.      Morgan State Student Club - Dr. Jose Jones

  • This club became a reality in 2007 under Dr. John Parker of the University's Engineering Department. 
  • Morgan State completed its first certification class in 2008
  • With the help of Alex Covin of UAS, the club made its first road trip to Crystal River, Florida

 

2.     Diving With A Purpose (DWP) - Ken Stewart

  • In 2009, DWP was held at Biscayne Bay for it's fifth year, they had 41 participants.  The first week they had 5 instructors, 4 instructor candidates (3 instructors certified), and 11 students. The second week they had 9 instructors, 1 instructor candidate (no instructors certified), and 11 students
  • Currently DWP has 15 certified instructors in underwater archeology, and 35 trained advocates.
  • Planning to make DWP a PADI specialty, Paul Washington and Erik Denson are working on the curriculum
  • The DWP website is www.divingwithapurpose.org

 

3.      NOAA/NABS Partnership -  Bill Murrain

  • The partnership began last year with when NOAA reached out to NABS (through Mike Cottman) for help with the "Voyage of Discovery" project.  The "Voyage of Discovery" is a project that researches African American's involvement in the oceans and the water.
  • The NABS/NOAA partnership started with cross training of staff; three NABS members trained last year in March in Seattle with NOAA, and three NOAA people trained with DWP in April 2008.
  • Last year NOAA had 3 days of training in Key Largo for 15 NABS members. The people were selected by a committee and were people trained through DWP. This training creates a cadre of people that NOAA has trained and ready for projects.
  •  NOAA  also sponsored the Youth Summit in June in Savannah, GA, 37 youth attending the summit.
  • Bill Murrain is currently working on having annual training opportunities with NOAA in the future Candidates with DWP experience will be considered first.
 

4.      Project Oceanography (University of Connecticut) - Dr. Jose Jones

  • The Science & Education committee made their third visit to the University of Connecticut Project Oceanography. They currently have 21 students and adults investigating such activities as Re-breathers, ROV, Hyperbaric Chambers, Sub-base One, and living on and operating a nuclear submarine (visited a submarine base in the area). They boarded the Project Oceanography vessel and learned about water temperatures, salinity, density of water, and they collected marine life.
  • Dr. Jose Jones says that if anyone is interested in participating in this project, they should contact Charles Lumpkin

 

5.      Sea Base Project - Dr. Jose Jones

  • SeaBase is the underwater habitat that is supposed to be built in Belize. The project is underway, and NABS divers are going to play a significant part.
  • The project is on the internet, you can find it by looking up SBLLC, or SeaBase, Inc.

 

6.   Future Africa Projects - Dr. Jose Jones

  • Dr. Jones has been contacted by Mozambique and South Africa about getting help on document the wrecks they have along their shores (one wreck in Mozambique and one in South Africa). They want NABS to be involved in these projects.
  • Dr. Jones was contacted by Ghana's Minister of Tourism about NABS helping them locate slave ships off their coast.
  • Dr. Jones states that if you want to be a part of these projects in the future, you need to first take DWP; and you also need to contact him and tell him about your interest.