ssrovcamp@gmail.com

About the Camp

Our mission is to encourage scientific and technological engagement through the development of teamwork skills, STEAM capabilities, and the understanding of the oceanic environment using hands-on, technology- and phenomenon-based learning activities.

BACKGROUND

Motivated by the desire to address today’s technological workforce needs, SS-ROV Camp was started in 2013 through the collaborative efforts of Dr. Geoff Wheat and his team of program developers with funding from University of Mississippi, NIUST, NASA, NSF-USC (C-DEBI) and University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Our premise was to provide a hands-on, STEM, summer, learning opportunity that mimics a research ship mission – held in a classroom setting. Children entering grades 3 – 5 or entering grades 6 – 9 learn about ocean exploration and the science, technology, and operations that enable it. Hands-on STEM activities focus on the scientific method and ocean technologies in a real-world framework of discovery.

Students engage in hands-on activities in the areas of robotics, sensor technology, programming, marine geology and ecology. Like professional ocean research, the SS-ROV Camp emphasizes purposeful engagement and vision, planning and preparation, teamwork and execution, and discovery and problem solving.

VISION

Our vision is to create a sustainable, nationwide program that sparks excitement for learning about marine environments and helps young people, especially those who might not otherwise experience these types of activities, to see themselves in the role of the explorer, scientist and engineer.

“There are no dreams too large, no innovation unimaginable and no frontier beyond our reach.”
– John S. Herrington

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
– Confucius

OUR TEAM

With support from our funders, the SS-ROV Camp team is inspired and dedicated toward better preparing our youth for the future with fun and challenging marine science and tech activities that open minds, encourage exploration, build technological and scientific capabilities and develop collaboration skills.

Staff

Dr. C. Geoffrey Wheat is a Research Professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and an Adjunct Scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and the University of Washington. Dr. Wheat has participated in 74 oceanographic expeditions of which 47 included a submersible or ROV component. His motivation for starting the SS-ROV Camp and other related programs comes from his desire to provide children with fun and challenging learning opportunities in STEM fields.

Claudia Paul is a graduate of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, with a B.S. in Environmental Science. She has worked in laboratories for two decades on a wide-range of sea-going projects.

Trevor Fournier is a graduate of California State University, Monterey Bay, with a B.S. in Marine Science and of Monterey Peninsula College with an A.A. in Business Administration. Trevor has participated in four research expeditions as a science technician and has designed and fabricated sensors and samplers for deep sea exploration.

Kellie Ventimilia-Vicent is a graduate of California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Child Development, as well as a teaching credential from CSUMB. She is a kindergarten teacher, and is also involved with teacher education programs at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

OUR COMMUNITY OF FUNDERS

NIUST (The National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology)

NIUST was established in 2002 by the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Mississippi in partnership with NOAA’s Undersea Research Program (NURP) to develop and apply new technologies that enhance undersea research. NIUST is made up of three divisions: the Ocean Biotechnology Center & Repository (OBCR), the Seabed Technology Research Center (STRC), and the Undersea Vehicles Technology Center (UVTC), which broadly encompass the fields of biotechnology (e.g., biomedical and agrochemical products) and engineered technologies (e.g., instrumentation development) in the marine environment. NIUST is providing cutting edge technologies to NURP and their constituencies to further the nation’s research capabilities in near-shore, deep water, and extreme marine environments. Program objectives are focused on exploration, research, and advanced technology development.

UM (University of Mississippi)

Founded in 1848, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) is the flagship university for the state of Mississippi. A world-class, public, research university, the institution has a long history of producing leaders in public service, academia and innovative research. With more than 2,150 students, Ole Miss is the state’s largest university, with a major medical school, a nationally recognized law school and 15 academic divisions. It has been ranked as one of America’s best college buys by Forbes and one of the best places to work by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The university’s Honors College has been named one of America’s finest.

C-DEBI (Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations)

C-DEBI is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center on the deep sub-seafloor biosphere. Our mission is to explore life beneath the seafloor and make transformative discoveries that advance science, benefit society, and inspire people of all ages and origins. We are a multi-institutional distributed center establishing the intellectual, educational, technological, cyber-infrastructural and collaborative framework needed for transformative experimental and exploratory research on the sub-seafloor biosphere. C-DEBI is led by Drs. Jan Amend (C-DEBI Director, University of Southern California), Julie Huber (Marine Biological Laboratory), Steven D’Hondt (University of Rhode Island), Andrew Fisher (University of California, Santa Cruz), and C. Geoffrey Wheat (University of Alaska, Fairbanks).

NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration)

NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed about the changing environment around them. From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information when they need it. NOAA’s roots date back to 1807, when the nation’s first scientific agency, the Survey of the Coast, was established. Since then, NOAA has evolved to meet the needs of a changing country. NOAA maintains a presence in every state and has emerged as an international leader on scientific and environmental matters.

UAF (The University of Alaska Fairbanks)

Mission Statement: The University of Alaska Fairbanks, as the nation’s northernmost Land, Sea, and Space Grant university and international research center, advances and disseminates knowledge through creative teaching, research, and public service with an emphasis on Alaska, the North and their diverse peoples.

NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Throughout its history, NASA has conducted or funded research that has led to numerous improvements to life on Earth. NASA Headquarters in Washington provides overall guidance and direction to the agency under the leadership of the administrator. Ten field centers and a variety of installations conduct the day-to-day work in laboratories, on airfields, in wind tunnels and control rooms. NASA conducts its work in four principal organizations, called mission directorates: Aeronautics, Human Exploration and Operations, Science and Space Technology.

NSF (National Science Foundation)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…” With an annual budget of $7.2 billion (FY 2014), we are the funding source for approximately 24% of all federally-supported, basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.