The VISIONS’15 Team onboard the R/V Thompson includes nine members of the ROV ROPOS group, and a contingent of scientists, engineers, technicians, and students that total 36. On most legs, 35 berths are full. Staffing requirements are determined for each Leg based on the tasks to be performed.
Students are integral to the cruise, standing 4-on 8-off watches in the ROPOS control lab where they have responsibility for much of the logging of dive operations and documentation with digital-still imagery. The cruise also includes educators who oversee an intense hands-on, experiential learning program for ~19 undergraduate and graduate students involved in the UW courses Ocean 411 and Ocean 497.