Scientific Diving and the ESDP

Credit: G. Caramanna/University of Nottingham, UK

Credit: G. Caramanna/University of Nottingham, UK

What is Scientific Diving?

As a research platform, scientific diving (SD) is needed to support professional research and education and for the protection, conservation and monitoring of the natural and cultural environment.

As a science-focused activity, SD incorporates an approach which is quite different from recreational or commercial diving.

SD exists in a health and safety framework that involves certified scientific divers, diving officers, scientific project leaders, Heads of laboratories, administrators and legislators.

Crucially, SD provides the technical capability to be an "intelligent monitoring system", greatly extending the possibilities of ship supported/based monitoring techniques.

SD is a highly-productive, cost-effective research tool supporting underwater science and archaeology through efficient and targeted sampling, quantitative survey, quantitative observation, in situ measurement, impact studies, ecological analyses, evaluation of new techniques, mapping underwater areas, profiling subtidal geology/geochemistry, and accurate deployment/retrieval of underwater apparatus.

European Scientific Diving Panel (ESDP)

Since 2008, ESDP has acted as an Scientific Diving (SD) operational platform in Europe to advance underwater scientific excellence and to promote and implement a practical support framework for SD-related activities.

In 2011, ESDP gathers 7 scientists from Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and United Kingdom with the support of the Marine Board Secretariat.

Country

Organisation

ESDP member

Belgium

MUMM - Royal Belgium Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS)

Alain Norro

Finland

Finnish Scientific Diving Commitee

Pirkko Kekalainen

France

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Jean Pierre Feral CHAIR

Germany

Alfred Wegener institute (AWI)

Philipp Fischer VICE CHAIR

Italy

Italian Association of Scientific Divers

Giorgio Caramanna

Carlo Cerrano

Sweden

University of Goteborg

Roger Lindblom

UK

National Environmental Research Council (NERC) 

Martin Sayer VICE CHAIR

ESDP aims:

1. To advance underwater scientific excellence in Europe through:

  • Organizing conferences, workshops, courses and producing publications to promote scientific diving as a research tool;
  • Facilitating an annual meeting to initiate synergies, present national status and development reports, and foster advances in dive technologies and procedures;
  • Encouraging European funded research networks that employ scientific diving;
  • Improving and extending the methodology of diver-supported research beyond actual state-of-the-art methods and to seek and validate new technologies which will underpin future gains in knowledge;
  • Promoting interdisciplinary research in the marine environmen.

2. To promote scientific diving across Europe through:

  • Facilitating a pan-European framework that encourages best practice;
  • Advising on the establishment of national scientific diving committees where they do not exist;
  • Initiating and developing cooperation and synergies between technicians, scientists, programme managers and policy makers;
  • Promoting links with industry (e.g. sensor technologies, real-time communication for field data transfer, underwater positioning, …).

3. To encourage international mobility in the European scientific diving community through the implementation of a practical support framework by:

  • Promoting the widespread recognition of the European Scientific Diver (ESD) and Advanced European Scientific Diver (AESD) qualifications as the minimum standards for scientific diving by assuring their acceptance as primary qualifications;
  • Organising training on specific scientific and technological topics (e.g. summer schools);
  • Facilitating, promoting and maintaining communication within and between national scientific diving organisations; Developing and maintaining a European database of scientific divers.

Additional information:

ESDP external page accessible here