The Feb. 13 talk at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center – a brown-bag seminar by Christopher Rigaud that provides an inside look at the U.S. Antarctic Diving Program – has been rescheduled to Wednesday, Feb. 20 at noon due to an impending snowstorm.
Established in 1959 by the United States National Science Foundation, the U.S. Antarctic Diving Program oversees the research and logistical support of three research stations on the continent: McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and Palmer Station. One very important part of this mission is the scientific diving program that facilitates safe underwater research in extreme polar conditions.
Rigaud is the diving operations manager for UMaine and serves on the Scientific Diving Control Board of the Antarctic dive program. He recently traveled to McMurdo Station to get a better understanding of both the program itself and the environmental demands placed on scientific divers.
The Darling Marine Center is located at 193 Clarks Cove Road in Walpole, and the talk will take place in Brooke Hall, on the lower waterfront campus. Bring a brown-bag lunch. For a reasonable disability accommodation, call 563-3146.
Founded in 1965, the Darling Marine Center’s mission is to connect people to the ocean. The center’s researchers, staff, and students work alongside fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs, marine industry professionals, and other members of the community in Maine and around the world. More information is available at dmc.umaine.edu.
