For Scientists Education & Outreach Venture Deep Ocean Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS) Contact us
Distinguished Lecture Series banner

Speakers 2009

Breea Govenar

Portrait of Breea Govenar

Biography

Breea Govenar is a postdoctoral researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Most of her research has focused on the ecology of benthic invertebrate communities at hydrothermal vents, in particular how communities respond to environmental changes and how community dynamics affect large–scale patterns and processes. She first became interested in plate tectonics and the "ring of fire" in a ninth grade Earth Science class, but by twelfth grade, she had found her love for benthic invertebrates during a class field trip to the Bahamas.

In 2000, Breea received a B.S. in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, with a minor in French, at Tulane University (New Orleans, LA). During her undergraduate studies, she took additional courses at the Université de Lyon I: Claude Bernard (Lyon, France) and Harvard University and conducted a research project on the benthos of the Lower Missisippi River. Breea then received a Ph.D. in Biology at The Pennsylvania State University, where she worked with Dr. Charles Fisher. Her dissertation focused on the role of abiotic factors and biological interactions on the structure of invertebrate communities associated with aggregations of tubeworms at hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise and the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Since missing her graduation to participate in back–to–back cruises to the East Pacific Rise and Galápagos Rift in 2005, she has worked in the laboratory of Dr. Timothy Shank at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

She continues to research the ecology of hydrothermal vent communities, including macrofaunal colonization and community assembly following seafloor eruptions, the role of habitat provision by foundation species, and niche partitioning in primary consumers. Breea has participated in 11 oceanographic research cruises and made 17 submersible dives (13 in the DSV Alvin and 4 in the Johnson–Sea–Link) to hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seeps.

Lectures

 

Rob Reves–Sohn

Portrait of Rob Reves-Sohn

Biography

Robert Reves–Sohn is an associate scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution specializing in geophysical investigations of deep–sea volcanoes and hydrothermal vents. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (1987) and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (1996). His approach to research combines elements of instrument design, oceanographic field work, and data analysis, as all these components are needed to advance our understanding of the unique, and sometimes bizarre, geological processes occurring in the deep sea.

Lectures

 

Dana Yoerger

Portrait of Dana Yoerger

Biography

Dr. Dana Yoerger is an Associate Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) where he designs and implements robotic control systems for telerobotic and autonomous underwater vehicles. He received the SB, SM, and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and now supervises the thesis research of students enrolled in the WHOI/MIT joint program in Oceanographic Engineering. Dr. Yoerger is a member of WHOI's Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL), which was founded by Dr. Robert Ballard. DSL features a unique team of engineers, technicians, administrators, and students who perform engineering research and development, and also conduct extensive oceanographic field work under the auspices of the NSF National Deep Submergence Facility. He also works with engineers at the institution's Applied Engineering Laboratory and the Alvin submersible group.

Dr. Yoerger has gone to sea on over 50 oceanographic expeditions, including the 1985 Titanic discovery cruise. Other expeditions include archaeological surveys of ancient shipwrecks, a forensic investigation of a modern shipwreck, and scientific surveys of sites along the mid–ocean ridge. He was a member of the team that developed the telerobotic control system for the Jason remotely operated vehicle and has served as Jason navigator on many cruises. He has been to the deep seafloor six times in the deep submergence vehicle Alvin.

Lectures