“I see DEEP as an undersea NASA”

After speaking to Kirk Krack, DEEP’s Human Diver Performance Lead, in the first interview of our new DEEP interview series, we meet up with Dawn Kernagis, Director of Scientific Research, to find out more about how DEEP will advance scientific objectives. Dawn is a NASA-trained NEEMO Aquanaut, Explorer’s Club Fellow and Women Divers Hall of Fame Inductee who is also tasked to establish DEEP’s first US presence in North Carolina.

Oceanographic: Dawn, what is DEEP’s science strategy? How do you envision the different avenues of research in the underwater habitat?

Dawn Kernagis: Habitat-based scientific research has been done in the past. An example is with Aquarius Reef Base, an underwater habitat off of the Florida Keys that was built in 1986. As a crew member with the NASA NEEMO mission at Aquarius Reef Base, I had the opportunity to conduct a number of marine science projects outside of the habitat, in addition to biomedical, engineering, and human factors research inside the habitat. For example, in addition to documenting species on the surrounding reef and building coral nurseries outside of the habitat, we were also testing out different biomedical devices and associated protocol for spaceflight. As this has been done before, I see our science strategy building on that multidisciplined, multifaceted concept. It’s an easy place to start, right? But now, because the Sentinel system (DEEP’s underwater habitat system) is larger in size and has additional capabilities compared to previous habitat systems, we can continue to expand on what will be possible. One thing that I’m really excited about is that, with the Sentinel’s size and expanded capabilities, it allows us to have equipment at depth that we previously wouldn’t have been able to set up in a habitat setting due to size and powering requirements limitations.

OM: What kind of equipment and science stations are you hoping to embed into the undersea stations?

DK: I see DEEP as an undersea NASA. NASA builds the technology, they support the crew and related spaceflight systems, and they also lead the way with respect to astronaut training and health/performance research. I see DEEP as having an international, comprehensive system similar to NASA and the international space community, with a network of science and exploration stations established the globe.

In the habitat itself, we envision a wide range of research equipment; the type of equipment will depend on the scientists using the habitat for a specific mission. That equipment will be different as the science (and the equipment itself) changes and evolves. The Sentinel will be flexible to accommodate a variety of equipment and scientific requirements. I see science happening throughout the habitat. For example, there can be human factors research taking place in the control room where crew are monitoring the divers outside of the habitat. At the same time, there could be monitoring devices on the divers themselves. In other areas of the habitat, there could be medical testing being conducted by another crew member, while their teammate is working in the laboratory analysing DNA from a sample collected on an earlier dive.

On a side note: as a scientist, when I was on the Aquarius mission, I didn’t want to come up. Of course, I was happy to see my family and friends, but it was amazing to conduct research while living undersea. Our crew could see the ebbs and flows of surrounding marine life, how dynamics changed throughout the day, and we got to know the surrounding ecosystem in a way that wasn’t possible doing single, one-off dives. Living undersea in a sustained way allowed us to have an improved understanding of how that ecosystem fluctuated around the clock.