Wednesday, September 5, 2012

USC's Dr Jim Haw at this Monday's meeting: The Rebirth of the USC Science Diving Program


 
 
 
 


 
 
 
 
Hay dive club speaker fans-
Been busy working here & there this summer, and one of my gigs landed me at USC.
One thing lead to another, and I found a way to at least get a guest speaker out of the place!
 
Dr. Jim Haw is the Director of the USC Dornsife Environmental Studies Program and Irani Professor of Chemistry. Environmental Studies has become one of the fastest growing majors at USC, in large measure due to a series of experiential field courses beginning with an archeological and cultural study of Southern Belize launched nearly six years ago. 
 
Working with USC ENST Assistant Professor David Ginsburg, Jim developed a second course around an expedition to Guam and Palau four years ago. Undergraduate students in the Guam and Palau Program, starting with no prior diving experience, progress as American Academy of Underwater Sciences scientific divers (as well as NAUI master divers) and investigate marine and coastal issues in Micronesia.  These include dives assessing a flawed environmental study for the Navy's plan to dredge corals reefs on Guam for berthing an aircraft carrier and long term monitoring of a marine protected area in the Rock Islands of Palau.  
 
Other related activities include in-ocean engineering testing for a robot submarine, and dive support on recovery missions.  These efforts, while supporting the teaching and research missions of USC, have also significantly increased the strength of the science diving program and added a number of young divers to the SoCal community.  
 
Jim is also an underwater photographer, and his talk will be illustrated with shots ranging from sharks at Blue Corner to a submarine recovery off of Catalina.