168 
Falalop Island, Ulithi Atoll 
Western Caroline Islands i 
March 18, 1971 ; 
Wiliam A. Nierenberg, Director 
Scripps Instituion of Oceanography 
(San Diego) La Jolla, California 92037 
Dear Dr. Nierenberg: . 
I 
I am happy to receive your letter of February 22, 1971 announcing that our i 
research program for the use of the R/V ALPHA HELIX has been approved. The 
Southern Solomon Island program which I outlined embraced the Banks and Torres 
Islands of the Northern New Hebrides, as well, which are the immediately 
adjacent Islands. Ureparapara, Loh (Torres), and then Rennell, Bellona and 
Anuta (Cherry) Island and Tikopia are the major islands of our interest in these j 
areas, and we would be happy to get to a few of them, with those of the Southern i 
Solomons on highest priority. Since I am leaving the Western Caroline Islands 
in a few days for work in New Guinea (West Irian and TPNG) and then I shall be ] 
visiting Honiara and the New Hebrides, I can make more final plans with our | ' 
colleagues in the Health Services of BSIP and the New Hebrides while I am there i 
in May, if I know more specifically by then approximately what dates the ship i 
could be at our disposal. 
Since I submitted a proposal for early use in 1971 to fill a gap in your ! 
programming, and a more involved longer plan for 1972 in the remote islands of 
Indonesia, I am a bit more uncertain as to what year your approval is for, and 
the dates are crucial to my planning. 
I must also know whether the ALPHA HELIX funding will cover costs of travel ' , 
to meet the ship, since the major problem I have for my staff is the problem of | ; 
foreign travel expenses, which have severe limits at NIH, and these I myself 
exceed in the course of any year. Thus, to bring the technical staff along will ' 
require some support for their travel expenses, etc. We can send out supplies 
by air mail and air freight to any appropriate port, but need 1 month or more to r 
insure their arrival there. I must also know what ports of call would be best 
for arrival of the scientists. [ 
During these critical months of planning, Mrs. Marion Poms, my secretary, | 
Mrs. Judith Meyer, my sociologist and cinema archive assistant, and Dr. Joseph j 
Gibbs and Dr. Paul Brown, two medical virologists in my department are at the ij 
NIH laboratories able to make plans and arrangements for the trip in my absence, |! 
and they will be in close touch with me. Any correspondence addressed to me had | 
best be sent through my NIH, Bethesda, Maryland address for there it is xeroxed i ; 
and sent to various addresses in the South Pacific where I can next receive 
mail. Urgent matters reach me by radio regularly. i 
, ^ 
Again I thank you for your offer and proposal, and I look forward to the 
possiblity of finally finishing work and getting new work started in these 
remote islands where we have had a problem with off-island work for years, ; 
because of their remoteness and landing problems. 
