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Greater protection needed for US underwater canyons

From The Hill: The area of the ocean under U.S. jurisdiction is nearly one and a half times larger than the continental U.S., making it an “underwater United States” hidden beneath the waves.

The Rise of Orpheus

Orpheus, an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), is a critical component of WHOI’s HADEX deep ocean exploration program.

The Hadex Program

Exploring the Hadal Zone, Earth’s final frontier

The Value of Deep-Sea Canyons

On February 12, 2020, Tim Shank joined a panel to discuss the importance of preserving deep-sea canyons at a Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC.

Into the Abyss: Exploring Earth’s Final Frontier

From hydrothermal vents and undiscovered life forms to mineral extraction & commerce, the race to understand and control the least understood part of our planet is on. But at what cost? And, are we really willing to sell this legacy to the highest bidders?

TED: Mission Ocean

For a second year in a row, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) made waves at the annual TED conference in Vancouver—this time, with an immersive exhibit called Mission:Ocean.

Research interests of Timothy Shank’s Molecular Ecology & Evolution Lab are focused on understanding ecological and evolutionary processes that structure the diversity of deep-ocean benthic communities, including larval dispersal, colonization, habitat utilization, genetic connectivity, and the evolutionary relationships of invertebrate fauna. These studies include seamount and chemosynthetic ecosystems intimately tied to planetary processes significant to the evolution of life on earth.

Current Projects

Canyons and Seamounts

Deep-Water Corals and Associated Fauna

Chemosynthetic Ecosystems

Hadal Ecosystems

Developing Tools for Deep Sea Research

Anthropogenic Impacts, Conservation and Policy

HADEX Program and Exploring Ocean Worlds

Recent peer-reviewed publications

Oceanographic Drivers of Deep-Sea Coral Species Distribution and Community Assembly on Seamounts, Islands, Atolls, and Reefs Within the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Frontiers in Marine Science. Steven R. Auscavitch, Mary C. Deere, Abigail G. Keller, Randi D. Rotjan, Timothy M. Shank and Erik E. Cordes. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.00042/full#supplementary-material

Animal community dynamics at senescent and active vents at the 9°N East Pacific Rise after a volcanic eruption. Frontiers in Marine Science. Gollner, S., B. Govenar, P.M. Arbizu, L.S. Mullineaux, S. Mills, N. Le Bris, M. Weinbauer, T.M. Shank and M. Bright. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00832

Multiple Spatially Distinct Introductions and not Range Expansion May Explain Colonization History in an Invasive Marine Shrimp. Marine Biology 166: 67. Bors, E.K.,  J.T. Carlton, and T.M. Shank (2019) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-019-3514-4

Population genomics of rapidly invading lionfish in the Caribbean reveals signals of range expansion in the absence of spatial population structure. Ecology and Evolution. 9(6): 3306-3320. Bors, E. K., S. Herrera, J.A. Morris, and T.M. Shank (2019) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.4952

A new species of Alvinocaris (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea: Alvinocarididae) from Costa Rican methane seeps. Zootaxa. 4504(3): 418–430. Martin, J.W. A.R. Wall, T.M. Shank, H. Cha, C.A. Seid and G.W. Rouse (2018) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328515036_A_new_species_of_Alvinocaris_Crustacea_Decapoda_Caridea_Alvinocarididae_from_Costa_Rican_methane_seeps

Shipboard design and fabrication of custom 3D-printed soft robotic manipulators for the investigation of delicate deep-sea organisms. PLoS ONE. 13(8): e0200386. Vogt, D.M., K.P. Becker, B.T. Philips, M.A. Graule, R. Rotjan, and T.M. Shank (2018) https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0200386

IN THE NEWS

RELATED WORK

Executive Report Released to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Council on the Ocean

NASA eyes the ocean: How the deep could unlock outer space

History’s Largest Mining Operation Is About to Begin

Dr. Seuss’s Garden’ Yields a Deep-Sea Discovery, but It Already Faces Threats

Exclusive photos show deep-sea canyon in U.S. waters teeming with life

Phone Call Links Inner and Outer Space

Exploration of Cold Seeps on the North Atlantic Continental Margin

See the strange creatures NOAA found at the bottom of the sea

Into the abyss: Scientists explore one of Earth’s deepest ocean trenches

Exploring One of the Deepest Ocean Trenches

HADEX Program

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@shanklab_WHOI