PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has picked the University of Rhode Island to lead a new institute for ocean exploration.
NOAA announced Monday that URI will host its Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute and Titanic discoverer Robert Ballard will lead it.
The institute will work with NOAA to explore unknown undersea areas, deploy remotely-operated vehicles, adopt and integrate various autonomous vehicles for exploration and improve the utility of the data.
The University of New Hampshire, University of Southern Mississippi, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust will participate.
Ballard directs URI’s Center for Ocean Exploration at the Graduate School of Oceanography. He’s president of Ocean Exploration Trust.
NOAA is awarding $94 million for a five-year effort, which could be renewed for five years.
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