Oil and gas company BPTT has donated an OUTLAND 2000 ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to UWI St Augustine’s Department of Life Sciences (DLS). The presentation was made on September 25 at the company’s Queen’s Park Plaza headquarters in Port of Spain.
“BPTT’s generous support has signalled their investment in local marine scientific research within the Department of Life Sciences and the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus,” said Dr Judith Gobin, Senior Lecturer and Head of the DLS. Dr Gobin is extremely excited about this valuable piece of equipment and all the supporting material received as this will take her deep sea research “to even deeper depths”.
Dr Gobin has been collaborating with fellow researchers for several years on deep sea habitats. Her work with fellow marine biologist Dr Diva Amon has led to the discovery of 83 species in the almost mile-deep waters off Trinidad.
Under Dr Gobin’s leadership the DLS, within the Faculty of Science and Technology, is already working on a pilot project to employ the ROV. It is expected that results will continue to reveal surprises in our “deep sea backyard”, said Dr Gobin.
