66 



research given many scientists and policymakers. My own involvement during these years 

 included instituting a government diving science program at the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory 

 in New Jersey, and from 1971 through 1975 directing the Hydro-Lab Program that allowed 343 

 scientists to live and work on the bottom of the ocean for one-week periods. 



The old MUST office was reorganized in 1980 and became the National Undersea Research 

 Program (NURP) with four regional centers in Hawaii, North Carolina, California and the 

 Virgin Islands. Connecticut was added in 1984, my own Center in Florida and the Caribbean in 

 1986, Alaska in 1990 and New Jersey in 1991. 



With the closing of the Virgin Islands NURP Center and the move of the West Coast 

 (California) Center to Alaska, there are now a total of six with wide capabilites in undersea 

 research. 



During NURP's tenure the quality of research and researchers has grown steadily, the science 

 having evolved from mainly observational, natural-history type projects to sophisticated studies 

 and experimentation. Over 1000 papers by NURP-supported projects have been published in the 

 past nine years, covering such subjects as fisheries recruitment, deepsea benthic organisms, 

 health of coral reefs, deepsea dumpsites, marine geology, effects of ultraviolet light on marine 

 organisms, habitat characteristics and enhancement of marine organisms, to name a few. In 

 1992 alone, NURP supported research that involved over 8,000 scuba/nitrox dives, 706 occupied 

 submersible dives and 442 ROV dives, serving over 1300 scientists from 336 institutions. 



The overall stated goals of NURP are aimed at increasing our knowledge of the structure and 

 processes of the global ocean in support of NOAA's undersea mission: 



To develop an understanding of how physical, chemical, biological and 

 geological processes in the oceans and large lakes govern environments 

 important to the nation in order to improve the wise use of our marine and 

 lacustrine resources as well as predict change in those environments, either 

 natural or human induced. 



The bulk of research and supporting field operations occur at specific selected sites. Because 

 this research is process-oriented, the field site is usually representative of a geologic, 

 oceanographic or ecologic "region." Research in these regions is managed by one or more of the 

 National Undersea Research Centers (NURCs) that provide access to undersea systems by the 

 research community, especially academic scientists. The largest number of NURP-supported 

 investigators is fi-om universities, but a significant nimiber come ft-om government (local, state 

 and federal agencies) and non-academic institutes. To date, more than 3,000 individual research 

 scientists have been supported by NURP to work on the seafloor and in the water column. 

 Further, because NURP encourages investigators to have support for their research from other 

 sources, NURP funds are leveraged each year to a level equal to or greater than its appropriation. 

 Research themes that not only address NOAA's stated mission, but are also of interest to other 

 agencies, include three areas of particular concern to NOAA: global change, recruitment of 

 marine organisms and coastal oceanic processes. Projects that advance undersea technology or 

 that involve hyperbaric (diving) physiology in humans are also supported by NURP. 



