• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

 

Roane State educators complete record-breaking 73-day underwater stay

Posted at 11:25 pm December 17, 2014
By Roane State Community College Leave a Comment

Bruce Cantrell and Jessica Fain Surface

Roane State professors Jessica Fain and Bruce Cantrell enjoy their first moments of sunlight after living underwater for 73 days. (Photos by Roane State Community College) 

 

KEY LARGO, Florida—After a record-breaking 73 days living underwater, two local college professors surfaced Monday and enjoyed the feel of sunlight for the first time in more than two months.

They also celebrated the end of their mission to educate the public about ocean conservation, to inspire young people’s interest in science, and to make history.

Biology professor Bruce Cantrell and adjunct professor Jessica Fain from Roane State Community College in East Tennessee spent the fall living and working in Jules’ Undersea Lodge, an underwater habitat on Key Largo in Florida. Their underwater stay lasted 73 days, two hours, and 34 minutes, breaking the world record for longest time spent living underwater.

The two educators submerged October 3 at 12:08 p.m. EDT and surfaced on Monday, December 15, at 1:42 p.m. EST.

“There is a sun,” Cantrell said with a laugh as he and Fain broke the surface of the water.

“Going in, we had goals that we wanted to accomplish,” Cantrell said. “At the end of 73 days, I think we’ve exceeded those goals. We’ve reached a lot of people. Now the challenge for us is to carry that forward.”

Advertisement

Fain said that teaching people about ocean conservation was one of the project’s most important goals.

“I really hope that people take away from this that the oceans are something that we need to protect,” Fain said. “We need to learn more about the oceans and how they work.”

Their mission broke the record held by Richard Presley (69 days, 19 minutes in Jules’ Undersea Lodge from May 6-July 14, 1992). Presley greeted Fain and Cantrell after they surfaced.

“It’s exciting to see the focus more on education and using technology to involve more students,” Presley said. “We didn’t have that technology in ’92.”

While living 25 feet underwater, Fain and Cantrell hosted nine episodes of an online lecture series titled “Classroom Under the Sea.” Presented by Roane State and the Marine Resources Development Foundation, “Classroom Under the Sea” featured guests such as astronaut Buzz Aldrin and marine life artist Wyland.

Advertisement

Viewers have watched 65,000 minutes of Classroom Under the Sea video content on the project’s YouTube channel. Video content has been viewed in 124 countries.

Cantrell and Fain also spoke by video chat with students across the country and around the world. Students at a small school in Nickelsville, Virginia, shared their thoughts on talking with two professors living underwater.

“Our school is a very small school; we don’t even have 300 people,” wrote senior Chelsey Stapleton. “So getting this chance to talk to Bruce and Jessica about their experience was so interesting and amazing.”

Marine Resources Development Foundation and Jules’ Under the Sea Lodge arranged for middle school students and high school students to have “Lunch with the Aquanauts.” Thirty students participated, including groups from Massachusetts, Maryland, and North Carolina.

Jessica Fain, Bruce Cantrell, and Richard Presley

Richard Presley, center, the previous record-holder for longest time spent living underwater, congratulates new record-holders Jessica Fain, left, and Bruce Cantrell.

 

Cantrell and Fain also received dozens of letters from students.

“When you start hearing back from these students, and they’re telling you ‘this is so cool’ and ‘what’s it like living underwater,’ you really feel like you are reaching your goals,” Fain said. “You feel like you are making a big difference in their lives. We brought a whole new world to some of these kids.”

In addition to hosting shows and speaking with students, Cantrell taught a college-credit course—BIOL 2600: Living and Working Under the Sea—for Roane State students.

Advertisement

Fain made her own mark by breaking the record for a female living underwater. The record was 14 days, set in 1970 by scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle and her team during their stay in the Tektite habitat. The Tektite program was the first nationally sponsored effort to place scientists in the sea to live.

“It’s a great honor,” Fain said. “She’s a pioneer. She’s a great marine biologist. By me living underwater for 73 days, I’m making a big step for females and showing girls, especially young girls, that it’s OK, that this may be a field where there’s a lot more guys, but girls can definitely succeed.”

Classroom Under the Sea episodes and lesson plans will remain available, at no cost, on the project website at www.roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea. Teachers are invited to use the materials in their courses.

Filed Under: College, College, Education, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Bruce Cantrell, Classroom Under the Sea, Florida, Jessica Fain, Jules' Undersea Lodge, Key Largo, living underwater, marine biologist, Marine Resources Development Foundation, ocean conservation, Richard Presley, Roane State Community College, science, Sylvia Earle, Tektite, underwater stay, world record

Advertisements

 


Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Some of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require significant time to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Education News

Covenant Health donating land for Roane State health science center

Covenant Health is donating about 10 acres of land for Roane State Community College's new $75 million regional health science training center in west Knox County. The Knox Regional Health Science and Simulation … [Read More...]

School board approves aviation career path

The Oak Ridge school board on Monday unanimously approved an aviation career pathway that could eventually allow students to get a private pilot's license. The board also approved a contract extension for Superintendent … [Read More...]

Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 31

The deadline to submit a video application is about one week away in a contest that awards $25,000 to improve STEM education in public schools in the region. ORAU's Extreme Classroom Makeover is open to third-grade to … [Read More...]

ORCSGirls resumes in-person classes in Oak Ridge, Maryville

Oak Ridge Computer Science Girls (ORCSGirls) is resuming their free in-person coding classes for girls in grades 5-10, a press release said. In March 2020, all classes were switched to be virtual events in response to … [Read More...]

Roane to Tech paves path for transfer students

A relatively new program called Roane to Tech allows students to transfer from Roane State Community College to Tennessee Tech University to complete their last two years of college, and it provides students additional … [Read More...]

More Education

Recent Posts

  • Basketball: Wildcats beat West in rematch
  • Basketball: Lady Wildcats undefeated in district
  • Obituaries: Jan. 23-27, 2023
  • Speakers mostly support TRISO-X fuel facility at meeting
  • UPF construction could cost more, take longer
  • Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center
  • One person seriously injured in Wednesday crash
  • Oak Ridge EM prepared for cold weather to prevent failures
  • Covenant Health donating land for Roane State health science center
  • School board approves aviation career path

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2023 Oak Ridge Today