March 21, 2007 — On its latest voyage, the Explorer of the Seas cruise ship is really living up to its name. Equipped with high-tech atmospheric instruments and an oceanographic laboratory, the cruise ship, arriving in St. Thomas this week, is helping scientists to answer some of the most challenging questions in ocean and climate research.
After the ship docks, visiting scientist Russell Schnell will be disembarking to give a talk on Thursday entitled, "The Air We Breathe–It Ain't What It Used to Be." The presentation will be held at UVI's St. Thomas campus from noon to 1 p.m. in the MacLean Marine Science Center.
Schnell, the director of Observatories & Global Network Operations for NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory, will explain how mankind is rapidly changing the composition of the atmosphere through the combustion of fossil fuels and the use of industrial and agricultural chemicals.
According to a press release issued Wednesday, the talk will include discussions and demonstrations to enhance participant interaction.
The presentation is part of the 2006-07 Seminar Series presented by Virgin Islands Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (VI-EPSCoR). The aim of this series is to exemplify how research of the environment can be of importance to the territory and its people.
According to the release, EPSCoR is a program of the National Science Foundation designed to increase research capacity in science and engineering within a state or territory of the United States that has traditionally been underfunded in these areas.
The project aboard the Explorer of the Seas is a joint effort between Royal Caribbean International and the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
For more information on the research project, please visit their website.