Monday, July 29, 2002

KEY LARGO, FLA and WILMINGTON, NC – Two students from Pennsylvania and South Carolina wrote their way to win a visit to America’s “Inner Space Station” Aquarius.

Marissa Chmiola, a 10th grader at Cedar Cliff High School in Harrisburg, Pa., and Andy Steadman, an eighth grader at Laing Middle School in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., wrote prize-winning essays describing why they would want to live aboard Aquarius, an underwater laboratory where researchers and scientists live and work on the seafloor for extended periods of time through the use of saturation diving. The 12- by 43-foot laboratory is located 60 feet underwater and 3.5 miles offshore in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The only undersea research station of its kind, Aquarius is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and operated by the National Undersea Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (NURC/UNCW).

Steadman, who arrived for the trip a certified diver, deemed his visit to Aquarius “the ultimate scuba dive, really cool.”

Chmiola, who completed free certification to make the dive, said, “The scuba class was a lot of hard work but fun. I can’t believe I’ve gone from not knowing how to dive to visiting Aquarius in four days.”

A parent and their sponsoring teachers accompanied the students. Steadman’s teacher Robin Sheek said she planned to write about the experience for a marine educator’s magazine as well as present a paper at a symposium on how the trip will help her enhance classroom activities.

Chmiola and her teacher Angela Watkins plan to write about their experiences and produce a short video.

“This is an incredible experience that will help me convey the sense of excitement that I have about exploration and teaching,” said Watkins.

The contest winners’ July visit coincided with a nine-day Aquarius mission conducted in partnership with NASA that utilized the underwater lab as a space equivalent for working and training. Aquarius’ environmental conditions are surprisingly similar to many of the challenges faced in outer space, said Dr. Steven Miller, director of NURC/UNCW.

“Andy and Marissa were able to meet a unique group of scientists – both astronauts and aquanauts,” said Miller. “I think this contest helped create new ambassadors who can speak to the importance of preserving our oceans and their resources.”

The contest “I Want to Live 10 days Under the Ocean in Aquarius Because...” was open to students in grades eight to 12. It required entrants to write an essay of no more than 1,000 words describing why they would want to live under the sea in the research lab. Winners received round-trip transportation to Key Largo, Fla., hotel accommodations, rental car expenses while in Key Largo, scuba certification and a dive to and tour of Aquarius and its coral reef home. An expert panel including marine biologists, journalists and educators judged the entries.

For more information, contact Dr. Steven Miller at 305/451-0233 or via e-mail at millers@uncwil.edu.