Dr. Marsh Youngbluth received his Master's degree in Zoology in 1966 from the University of Hawaii, and his Ph.D. in Biology in 1972 from Stanford University. He is a Senior Scientist with the Division of Marine Science at Harbor Branch Oceanographic institution. He has served as a visiting scientist at the University of Bergen, Norway, the Japanese Center for Promotion of Science, and National Center for Scientific Research in France. Dr. Youngbluth has also served as NSF Biological Oceanography Program Director, and as Program manager for the NOAA National Undersea Research Program.

Dr. Youngbluth's research in the field of biological oceanography is currently focused on in situ investigations of mesopelagic zooplankton, particularly gelatinous fauna. With respect to siphonophores and medusae, Dr. Youngbluth is interested in their ecological roles as predators in deep-water coastal regimes. Other active projects include studies of large appendicularians as mediators of particle flux and transport in midwater and benthic boundary habitats.

Much of Dr. Youngbluth's work employs the Harbor Branch JOHNSON SEA-LINK research submersibles. A firm believer in employing "the right tools for the job," Dr. Youngbluth continues to utilize innovative technologies in the ongoing exploration of the mid-ocean realm.

Dr Francesc Pages received his doctoral degree Biology (Ecology) from the University of Barcelona (1991). Subsequently, he had postdoctoral appointments at the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar Biology in Bremerhaven; Germany and the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Kyoto, Japan. He is currently a Regular Scientist at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona, Spain. Francesc is a world-renowned expert on the ecology and taxonomy of gelatinous mesozooplankton, especially siphonophores, ctenophores and medusae, in shallow and deep-water environments. He has extensive sea-going research experience in the Benguela Current off Western Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, the Humboldt Current of Peru, and the Weddell Sea of the Southern Ocean. His interests include: spatio-temporal distributions of gelatinous fauna in relation to water masses and physical factors; trophodynamics and predatory impact of planktonic cnidarians on other zooplankton populations; and symbiotic associations involving gelatinous zooplankton. He is currently studying how El Nino 1997-98 affected the gelatinous zooplankton in an upwelling area off northern Chile.

Dr. Chuck Jacoby received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biology from Illinois State University in 1974 and 1976, respectively. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Stanford University in 1980. Since then, he has held research positions at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, the University of Queensland in Australia, and the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Dr. Jacoby joined the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, where he led research teams for a decade and provided expert advice in four multi-million dollar, multidisciplinary, environmental studies. Dr. Jacoby is currently an estuarine and coastal specialist in the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at the University of Florida.

Dr. Jacoby has investigated estuarine, coastal and deepwater marine systems in the tropics, subtropics and temperate zones of the United States, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand. His scientific pursuits have appeared in peer-reviewed publications and book chapters on sediment porewater, water quality, benthic microalgae, seagrasses, saltmarshes, zooplankton, meiofauna, macroinvertebrates and fishes.

Dr. Jacoby has collaborated with Dr. Youngbluth since 1980. They have conducted studies of gelatinous zooplankton, particle flux and demersal zooplankton. Dr. Jacoby plans to continue ecological work on gelatinous zooplankton to quantify their roles in offshore and inshore ecosystems.

Dr. Franz Uiblein is a Professor at the Institute of Zoology, University of Salzburg in Austria. He received is academic training at the University of Vienna, and was awarded his doctoral degree in 1989. He has had postdoctoral and research fellow appointments at the University of Hamburg, Germany, the Laboratoire Souterrain, CNRS, France, and the Konrad-Lorenz Institute of Comparative Behavioural Research, Vienna, Austria. He also served as Curator of Fishes at the Natural History Museum and Research Institute Senckenberg, Frankfurt, Germany. Currently Franz leads the Biodiversity-Behavioural Ecology Research Group at the Institute of Zoology, University of Salzburg. His research has focused on comparative behavioral, morphological, and community investigations of marine fishes within shallow coral reef and mesopelagic environments in the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the central and northern Atlantic, and the tropical Indopacific Ocean.

Tom Sornes is a doctoral candidate in the Systems Ecology Research Group at the University of Bergen, Norway. He completed a Bachelor's degree (Biology) in 1998 and a Master's degree (Marine Biology) in 2001. His research in the field of biological oceanography has focused on zooplankton ecology, particularly functional responses of gelatinous zooplankton. Tom is currently working on an ecological model, based on life history traits of visual and tactile planktivores, to evaluate long-term competition strategies.

Rupert Weinerroither is a doctoral student at the Institute of Zoology, University of Salzburg in Austria. He began his university studies of biology and zoology in 1994 and received a Masters Degree in 2001. His research pursuits include studies of the taxonomy, ecology, biogeography and behavior of mesopelagic fishes. Rupert has conducted investigations at the Zoological Museum of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and the Canarian Institute for Oceanography, Telde, Gran Canaria, Spain; and participate on a cruise of the research vessel La Bocaina. He has tutored courses in behavior, ecology and evolution of animal communities.

Marc Picheral is affiliated with the Laboratoire d'Oceanlogie de Villefranche, Centre national Pour la Recherche Scientifique and Universite Pierre et Marie Curie since 1984. He is an engineer specialist in Marine Instrumentation Conception.

Marc has participated in research expeditions throughout the world working with underwater research tools such as the CTD, Rosette, and Bioness. The most recent invention, with Dr Gaby Gorsky, is the Underwater Video Profiler (UVP). The profiler will be used during the cruise and is now sold by Metal Process (http://www.metalprocess.com/boero.html). This apparatus is dedicated to marine snow and zooplankton studies (http://www.obs-vlfr.fr/~pvm/).

Marc Picheral will perform UVP dives during the Maine Event September Cruise. He will analyze both hydrological structures and marine snow/zooplankton distribution with the associated sensors and the in-situ imaging system.

Harry Breidahl is an Australian marine educator and author. His passion for the sea began as a child with carefree summer days spent at his grandparents' beach house near the Australian city of Melbourne. This childhood fascination led Harry to train as a biological scientist and educator. After a few enjoyable years as a high school science teacher, he began writing natural history articles with the Gould League, a conservation education organization. Over the past 15 years Harry has worked freelance, combining writing with a range of projects for government conservation agencies, part-time teaching and lecturing in education at Monash University. His current marine-related activities are focused on the development of a southern Australian marine monitoring program and web site at www.southernshores.auz.info and the design and construction of a marine science laboratory at a local high school. Harry is a founding member of the Marine Education Society of Australasia (MESA). His association with MESA involves the development of an international job-sharing network for marine educators and an annual marine awareness program called Seaweek. Go to www.mesa.edu.au for details of both projects.

Andrew Opatkiewicz is a Research Assistant. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire in May, obtaining his B.S. degree in Biology with a concentration in marine and freshwater systems. Andrew's research interests stem from his desire to better understand the biological and physical interactions, which influence the behavior of marine zooplankton. His previous research experience has focused on invertebrate ecology and aquaculture, primarily in the Gulf of Maine. His present appointment will provide him with further experience and benefit his transition into graduate study.

Brandy Ninesling is a Research Assistant in the Division of Marine Science at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution. She graduated from the University of Florida in 1998 with a BS. degree in Wildlife Ecology and a minor in Zoology. Her previous academic, field, and laboratory experiences include teaching cell biology to undergraduates, culturing corals and marine ornamental fish, and studying marine mammals. Brandy will be assisting in all phases of the research on the predatory habits of siphonophores particularly the Nanomia cara colonies.

Megan Tinsley has volunteered to work as a research assistant. She is a senior at the University of Tennessee majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology. Her interests in biology are broad and Megan is participating on this cruise to expand her research experience and explore career goals in biological oceanography. Previously, she has assisted in a variety of marine and terrestrial projects that focused on adaptive behaviors of pycnogonid arthropods, swordfishes, desert spiders, and anolis lizards.