Dr. Jim Caviness Jr. (LCDR)

LCDR Jim Caviness Jr. was born in Columbus Georgia in 1969, and moved to Indiana at age 7 where the joys of the sea were not available. After graduating from Noblesville High Scool in 1988, he attended the United States Naval Academy, where he graduated with distinction in 1992 with a B.S. in Political Science. He went directly to medical school at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda MD, where he graduated in 1996. While in medical school, he met his future wife, Andrea, who has maintained her sense of humor despite 4 PCS moves in 3 years - 3 of which involved going to the completely opposite coast of the US.

Following medical school he went to Naval Medical Center San Diego for his internship year, and then in 1997 went to Undersea Medical/Dive Medical Officer training. He was honor man of his dive school class, which curiously led to an assignment as the head of special physicals at the navy boot camp in Great Lakes, IL. However, he rotated from that job after only 15 months to accept his current assignment as the medical officer for submarine squadron 11 in San Diego, CA. In addition to his normal duties, Dr Caviness has maintained an interest in, and pursued research in, the field of underwater medicine. He currently has a protocol submitted to test NASA developed near-infrared Light Emitting Diodes' effect on wound healing aboard submarines, and is a co-investigator on another protocol to use a non-toxic disinfectant to reduce rates of respiratory illness aboard submarines.

Dr Caviness' professional interests are in the fields of human performance and activity in extreme environments. He was accepted into a research PhD in Undersea Medicine and Diving Physiology at the Uniformed Services University and hopes to obtain Navy funding to attend next fall. He has also applied for the NASA astronaut selection board. His personal interests include spending time with his wife Andrea, triathlons, scuba diving, woodworking, guitar playing, and an uncanny ability to invest in stocks subsequently plagued by scandal and/or bankruptcy. This is his first time supporting the Aquarius missions, and he hopes to return as medical support, an aquanaut, and as a funded researcher.