After speaking to Kirk Krack, DEEP’s Human Diver Performance Lead, in the first interview of our new DEEP interview series, we meet up with Dawn Kernagis, Director of Scientific Research, to find out more about how DEEP will advance scientific objectives. Dawn is a NASA-trained NEEMO Aquanaut, Explorer’s Club Fellow and Women Divers Hall of Fame Inductee who is also tasked to establish DEEP’s first US presence in North Carolina.

Oceanographic: Dawn, what is DEEP’s science strategy? How do you envision the different avenues of research in the underwater habitat?

Dawn Kernagis: Habitat-based scientific research has been done in the past. An example is with Aquarius Reef Base, an underwater habitat off of the Florida Keys that was built in 1986. As a crew member with the NASA NEEMO mission at Aquarius Reef Base, I had the opportunity to conduct a number of marine science projects outside of the habitat, in addition to biomedical, engineering, and human factors research inside the habitat. For example, in addition to documenting species on the surrounding reef and building coral nurseries outside of the habitat, we were also testing out different biomedical devices and associated protocol for spaceflight. As this has been done before, I see our science strategy building on that multidisciplined, multifaceted concept. It’s an easy place to start, right? But now, because the Sentinel system (DEEP’s underwater habitat system) is larger in size and has additional capabilities compared to previous habitat systems, we can continue to expand on what will be possible. One thing that I’m really excited about is that, with the Sentinel’s size and expanded capabilities, it allows us to have equipment at depth that we previously wouldn’t have been able to set up in a habitat setting due to size and powering requirements limitations.

OM: What kind of equipment and science stations are you hoping to embed into the undersea stations?

DK: I see DEEP as an undersea NASA. NASA builds the technology, they support the crew and related spaceflight systems, and they also lead the way with respect to astronaut training and health/performance research. I see DEEP as having an international, comprehensive system similar to NASA and the international space community, with a network of science and exploration stations established the globe.

In the habitat itself, we envision a wide range of research equipment; the type of equipment will depend on the scientists using the habitat for a specific mission. That equipment will be different as the science (and the equipment itself) changes and evolves. The Sentinel will be flexible to accommodate a variety of equipment and scientific requirements. I see science happening throughout the habitat. For example, there can be human factors research taking place in the control room where crew are monitoring the divers outside of the habitat. At the same time, there could be monitoring devices on the divers themselves. In other areas of the habitat, there could be medical testing being conducted by another crew member, while their teammate is working in the laboratory analysing DNA from a sample collected on an earlier dive.

On a side note: as a scientist, when I was on the Aquarius mission, I didn’t want to come up. Of course, I was happy to see my family and friends, but it was amazing to conduct research while living undersea. Our crew could see the ebbs and flows of surrounding marine life, how dynamics changed throughout the day, and we got to know the surrounding ecosystem in a way that wasn’t possible doing single, one-off dives. Living undersea in a sustained way allowed us to have an improved understanding of how that ecosystem fluctuated around the clock.

OM: What will research look like in the Sentinel system?

DK: As an example: I envision researchers processing samples that we collect at depth, while we also have freezers to store samples for future analysis. Whether it’s sequencing RNA or looking at cells under a microscope, being able to do that work at depth is incredibly unique because we haven’t been able to do that up until this point. In the past, if a researcher collected samples, they had to decompress those samples to bring them to the surface, which does often impact their molecular, chemical, or cellular makeup. In one of my studies in the past, we were looking at a specific biomarker in human blood samples collected at depth. However, after we brought the samples up to the surface, the results weren’t necessarily representative of what’s happening at that depth because those samples underwent the stress of decompression. So, it will be good to revisit a fair bit of research that has been done in the past and required samples to be brought to surface. We can also look at pretty much everything in real time under real conditions, which is exciting.

I think there will also be equipment that we can use the Sentinel as a testbed for. For example, with biomedical devices, we know from previous research that there are physiological changes that happen to humans at depth and in saturation. Now, we could see if those devices are able to capture those changes adequately in this specific environment. In addition to marine science and device testing, there will be research focused on the crew themselves, from medical monitoring to physiological changes to studies focused on sleep and nutrition optimization. We envision crew members conducting a multitude of research experiments and operationally-based projects during a single mission, similar to the wide variety and large quantity of work conducted by astronauts on the International Space Station during any given mission.

I know there are research applications we are not even thinking about at this time, as well. We are excited to review the responses to the Request For Information that I mentioned, because I know there are novel science applications that the research community will bring to the table. In general, I think that just emerging ourselves in that environment and increasing accessibility to a depth that would normally be restricted to a few scientific divers and people who can do that kind of diving – a very small subset of people – will be an asset in and of itself. Just being able to observe the ocean, at depth and around the clock, is incredible, right? We don’t have that capability right now. Similar to the establishment of the International Space Station and expansion of research related to space and human spaceflight, I think that a sustained presence of humans undersea will lead to new areas of research and development that we have yet to imagine.

OM: What fields of research do you think will be advanced by data collected in and around the habitats?

DK: A little bit of everything! What’s really great about the Sentinel is that we will have capabilities for integrating a wide variety of research topics, from human medicine and performance to marine science and everything that falls in between. We will have divers training in the water early, so we’ll start with diving-related human performance and medicine research. We already have human factors research being conducted around the Sentinel system and submersibles. Finally, we’ll move into what research can be done with the support of the habitat and the submersibles, which is when we really leap even more into marine science applications. There’s just so much that can be done, so it’s really exciting!

OM: What stage are you currently in?

DK: There’s a significant amount of research that has been done internally at DEEP that is focused on the engineering and technology development that goes into the assets that we’re creating. We are building off of the shoulders of giants and folks that have already done research on undersea systems and saturation diving to make our habitat system possible. With respect to dive medicine, we’re also building off of research that has previously been done on saturation diving, and we will continue to expand on that human side of research.

OM: Do you have any concrete examples of what your current work schedule looks like?

DK: Right now, we are focused on outreach and partnership development while developing the scientific infrastructure for future research and science collaborations. We’ve already met with a variety of institutions and government agencies. We’ve met with scientific diving organizations and also the scientific diving community as a whole and their leadership. All of those conversations have been very positive, with a high level of interest in collaboration and utilization of DEEP assets. Last year, we also released a Request For Information, which is essentially reaching out to most of the scientific community, and anyone else, that would be interested in giving us feedback on how what kind of research could be conducted with the Sentinel system and other DEEP assets. We have a good idea of what the science is going to look like and what that’s going to require, but we would like to get input and integrate more with the community to make sure that we’re not missing potential areas of research and collaboration. After that, we will continue our science conversations with research institutions, industry, and agencies.

OM: At what depth will the habitats be situated and how will scientific data be collected?  

DK: The Sentinel will be capable of deployment up to 200 metres or shallower. The habitat will be situated where the research or exploration is taking place at that time, and it will be redeployable to a new area of research when needed. In the meantime, there will be divers and submersibles extending the exploration and research capabilities outside of (and deeper than) the habitat, so we will have a broad area of coverage. On the outside, divers will be doing excursions to collect data or samples as required. We will also have submersibles that will be built out specifically for science to also assist with data and sample collection. Inside the habitat, the crew will also conduct a variety of research as described earlier.

OM: What fields of research are you personally looking forward to the most?

DK: First, I’m really excited about the increased accessibility and efficiency for the deep marine science work. This expansion of capabilities really opens up the concept of what’s possible for scientific diving and marine science, in addition to global outreach related to ocean awareness and conservation. Personally, I have a human research background that focused on human and human machine research in the undersea setting. What’s exciting with DEEP is that we’re not just building one piece of technology; we’re building a system that focuses on both the technology and the humans using that technology. The science conducted through DEEP is also going to be systematic, from human to ocean and everything in between.