Remotely Operated Vehicles, or ROVS, are one of the tools used by ocean explorers. In this 2005 image, the (ROV) Hercules searches for deep sea fauna. (Photograph courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Department of Commerce)
Ocean exploration and climate change will be the topics of the next episode of “Classroom Under the Sea,” an online lecture series hosted by two educators living underwater for 73 days.
The live program starts at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, November 13. Viewers can watch at roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea and on youtube.com/classroomunderthesea.
Biology professor Bruce Cantrell and adjunct professor Jessica Fain from Roane State Community College in East Tennessee are living and working in an underwater habitat—Jules’ Undersea Lodge on Key Largo in the Florida Keys—for 73 days. While in the habitat, Fain and Cantrell are hosting “Classroom Under the Sea,” presented by Roane State and the Marine Resources Development Foundation on Key Largo.
Guests visiting the habitat for the November 13 episode are best-selling author Richard Hyman and filmmaker Andy Pruna Sr. Hyman’s book “Frogmen” describes his journeys with Jacques Cousteau and the crew of the Calypso, a minesweeper that Cousteau converted into a research vessel.
Pruna Sr. was one of 40 Navy aquanauts trained to live and work in the ocean as part of the Navy’s Man in the Sea program. His documentaries on wildlife have received widespread acclaim.
Viewers are invited to tweet questions for Cantrell, Fain, or the guests to @ClassUnderSea or by using #ClassroomUndertheSea.
Laboratory lesson plans for each episode of Classroom Under the Sea can be downloaded free from roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea. Teachers and parents are encouraged to download the lesson plans and conduct experiments with students.
Classroom Under the Sea episodes continue each Thursday—excluding Thanksgiving—through December 11. Upcoming episodes include:
- Thursday, November 20, 1 p.m. EST—Recreation Diving and Its Impact on Ocean Conservation
- Thursday, December 4, 1 p.m. EST—Coral Restoration
Recordings of each Classroom Under the Sea episode are available on youtube.com/classroomunderthesea.
All Classroom Under the Sea episodes have been made possible through the generous support of Diversity in Aquatics, the project’s official sponsor. To learn more about Diversity in Aquatics, please visit www.diversityinaquatics.com.
In addition to hosting the weekly programs, Cantrell is teaching an online college-credit course—BIOL 2600: Living and Working Under the Sea—for Roane State students.
During their stay, which ends December 15, Cantrell and Fain will also set a world record for the longest time spent living underwater.
For more information about the Classroom Under the Sea, visit roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea.
Roane State is a two-year, 6200-student college with nine campuses in East Tennessee. For more information, visit roanestate.edu.
Located on Key Largo in the Florida Keys, the Marine Resources Development Foundation is a nonprofit organization with the goal of developing a better understanding of Earth’s marine resources. For more information, visit www.mrdf.org.
Jules’ Undersea Lodge was the undersea research habitat called “La Chalupa,” which Marine Resources Development Foundation operated from 1971-1976. Several missions were conducted in the habitat, including two at a depth of 100 feet. In 1986, the habitat started a new life as Jules’ Undersea Lodge, which is the only underwater hotel in the world and accessible to any recreational diver. Learn more at www.jul.com.
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