Ivar Babb is the Director of the NOAA Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut. He received his M.S. from the University of Maine focusing his research on the physiological ecology of seaweeds. He then received a M.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island. He served as a John Knauss Sea Grant Fellow in 1987, working at the National Undersea Research Program which began his association with NOAA. He has participated as Chief Scientist or scientist on 37 research and education cruises in the Atlantic, Great Lakes and abroad. He is a NAUI certified scuba diver (>260dives) and has extensive experience with occupied submersibles (Delta, Johnson ¬Sea Link I & II, Clelia, NR l & Alvin) and ROVs (Minirover Mk I and Mk II, MaxRover Mk I, Phantom 300 and S2, Deep Sea Systems MaxROV and Hercules/Argus), mixed gas diving (NITROX) and their applications as research and education tools.