Ray Highsmith
The University of Mississippi
NIUST
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662-915-5479
Dr. Highsmith founded and directed the West Coast and Polar Regions Undersea Research Center (U. Alaska Fairbanks) from 1990-2005. Funding levels were approximately $2 to $3 million/yr. The Center held annual peer-reviewed competitions and numerous subcontracts were issued and managed during the 15 yrs Highsmith was director. He established the Global Undersea Research Unit (GURU) at UAF, which included the Undersea Center plus faculty. GURU budgets varied with proposal funding success but we were the most productive unit in the Sch. of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences at UAF on a per capita basis. Highsmith was also director of UAF’s Kasitsna Bay Laboratory (owned by NOAA, operated by UAF) at a remote location on the Kenai Peninsula from 1990 to 2005, where he generated funding for and worked with NOAA to plan $12.3 million in new construction and rebuilding of the facility. From 1989 to 1996 Highsmith was the lead PI and managed a large study on damage assessment/restoration for the Exxon Valdez oil spill (20 m depth to the supratidal) over the approximate 700 mi extent of the spill. Grant funding totaled about $22 million. He prepared proposals, oversaw the budget and purchasing, chartered and provided science staff for three ships and a barge camp, had a peak staff of 60, developed SOPs, provided safety training, purchased supplies and numerous instruments, oversaw reporting requirements, developed cruise plans and supervised personnel. During this period, Highsmith was also President of the UAF Faculty Senate and was twice elected President of the UA General Assembly (represented multi-campus UA faculty, staff & students, about 40,000 people). In 2005, Highsmith became the Executive Director of the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST), a partnership between the Universities of Mississippi and Southern Mississippi. NIUST has an executive office and three divisions: Ocean Biotechnology Center and Repository, Seabed Technology Research Center and the Undersea Vehicle Technology Center (located at USM). In addition, several subcontracts are issued each year to participating faculty at other universities. The annual budget for NIUST is typically $4.5 million to $5.5 million. Highsmith also directs UM’s Center for Water & Wetland Resources and the 740-acre UM Field Station.
As Executive Director of NIUST, Highsmith re-purposed a pending research cruise in the northern Gulf of Mexico to investigate the Macondo blowout. This cruise (May 3 to 16, 2010) was the first academic cruise to investigate the spill, including collection of sediments in transects emanating from the spill site and to search for subsurface oil/gas in the water column, leading to the first discovery of subsurface hydrocarbons at depths of 1000-1400 m along a transect southwestward from the wellhead site and that extended for many km (Diercks et al, 2010). Subsequently, team members (NIUST staff & subcontracted scientists included in this proposal) have participated in many subsequent cruises to investigate the fate of the oil, develop time-series sampling programs, and conduct laboratory analyses and experiments.
Because the consortium consists of a large number of handpicked ocean scientists based on their individual expertise and productivity rather than on institutional relationships, brief statements on the experience and capabilities of each key participant are provided. Most have worked in the Gulf or on samples collected there, including responding to the Macondo discharge. All have previously worked with at least some other team members, have strong publication and funding records, and are highly regarded in the community.
