 the World interactive exercise that involved students in an online data gathering and sharing activity and coordinated the first JASON broadcast live via the Internet.
In addition to his continued involvement with the online components of
the 1996 expedition,
JASON VII: Adapting to a Changing Sea, which included the web-based Aquatic Field Study and Exploring the Steel Reef, Gene participated
in an all day dive to the bottom of the sea on the Navy's nuclear research submarine, the NR-1
While at the JASON VII expedition site in Key Largo, Florida, Gene came face to face with one of the legends of the silver screen......the African Queen.
The Union Jack still flies proudly, high above the deck of the African Queen. The old steam boiler still needs to be kicked occasionally, lest it
blow itself and all the inhabitants of the Queen into oblivion. However,
it isn't Humphrey Bogart that is doing the kicking anymore, nor is it wood cut
from the shores of a dark, leech-infested African river that keeps the old girl
Rather, it is James Hendricks and his bags of African
Queen charcoal briquets that keep the legend alive.
Most days, the African Queen rests peacefully on her cradle under
a faded canopy at the dock beside the Key Largo Holiday Inn.
However, the African Queen, that 30 foot collection of steel,
wood, rope and character is not one to rest on her laurels. Under the
watchful eye of Jim Hendricks she has plied the world's waterways from
New Orleans to the English Channel and I was fortunate enough to be
one of the lucky ones to follow in the footsteps of Bogart and Hepburn.
Gene has had a number of very productive collaborations with the Smithsonian Institution. Working with the Institution's Office of Environmental Awareness, he helped create the Smithsonian's first electronic exhibition, "Ocean Planet Online", which has been called one of the most comprehensive and technologically advanced exhibitions of its kind. In appreciation for this work, the Smithsonian Institution awarded Gene the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal which placed him in some pretty impressive company.
Working with Dr. Clyde Roper and the folks at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Gene helped to put In Search of Giant Squid online, an exhibition which explores and interprets the mystery, beauty and complexity of giant squids - the world's largest invertebrates and was based upon material presented in the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History's exhibit In Search of Giant Squid.
In 1997, Clyde Roper lead a team of scientists to the depths of Kaikoura Canyon off the coast of New Zealand on An Expedition into the Depths of the Last Frontier.
During February and March 1999, Clyde Roper returned to Kaikoura Canyon
to continue the exploration of this incredible ecosystem. This time, Gene
went along to help document the expedition as it took place.
On a more recent trip to that part of the world, Gene learned first hand what the expression "going to the devil" really meant.
Using tools developed for Ocean Planet, Norman Kuring and Gene worked with the Smithsonian's Office of Printing and Photographic Services to develop a Web-based utility to Search and Retrieve Images from The Smithsonian Photographic Services Data Base. Using
this tool, it is possible to quickly and efficiently search through almost 1,000 image files covering topics ranging from Air and Space, to Science, Nature, Technology, History, and People-Places and to retrieve the images and captions.
To help celebrate the Smithsonian Institution's 150th Anniversary, Gene and Norman created a way for people around the world to wish the Smithsonian a happy birthday.
For the JASON IX Expedition, Gene was onboard the research ship R/V Atlantis (April 17-26, 1998) the newest
research vessel from the Woods Hole's Oceanographic Institution where researchers used both the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) JASON and the manned submersible Alvin to explore the hydrothermal vent communities a mile beneath the Sea of Cortez.
In addition to helping provide daily updates of all the 