In Memoriam: Captain Charles Robert MacVean, USN, (Ret.), PhD
command. His sailors and divers would knowingly follow him past the Gates of Hell, and did more than once. They called him “Captain,” “Skipper,” “Mac,” or simply “Charlie.”Captain “Charlie” MacVean passed away in the company of family in San Diego, CA, on September 10, 2025, at the age of 88. MacVean joins other stellar American submariners enshrined in history: Bushnell, Holland, Lake, Nimitz, Morton, O’Kane, Butler, and others.Charles Robert MacVean was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Following graduation from high school
Barrels of Caustic Waste Found Off California
New research from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveals that barrels of caustic waste, thought to be related to the pesticide DDT, have created an extreme environment around them.Though the study’s findings can’t identify which specific chemicals were present in the barrels, DDT manufacturing did produce alkaline as well as acidic waste.“One of the main waste streams from DDT production was acid, and they didn’t put that into barrels,” said Johanna Gutleben, a Scripps postdoctoral scholar and the study’s first author. “It makes you
An Oceanographic Music Mix
that highlights the environmental stressors affecting oysters in Florida. Led by Assistant Professor of Anthropology Heather O’Leary, the project aims to make scientific data more accessible, understandable and engaging to the public.And a composition “Six Seasons” by Lei Liang of UC San Diego invites musicians to interact with sounds recorded from the depths of the ocean. Liang is UC San Diego Chancellor’s Distinguished Professor of Music.Another expression of oceanographic data takes a movement-based approach to connecting with the ocean. Die Mimik der Tethys (The Expressions
Rick van de Wetering Wins 2025 IADC Young Author Award
to “stimulate the promotion of new ideas and encourage younger men and women in the dredging industry." The award is granted at industry-leading conferences, with 2025’s winning young authors selected from the proceedings of the 24th WODCON Congress, held from June 23-27, 2025 in San Diego, California.Rick van de Wetering was selected as the Young Author Award winner for his contribution to the paper “A laboratory scale linear rock cutting setup to study cutting forces of blunt chisels.” Dredging hard rock with a cutter head, as used on a cutter suction dredger,
Greensea IQ to Host First Public Demonstration of Bayonet 350 AUGV
Greensea IQ, a developer of autonomous robotic systems for subsea and nearshore operations, will host the first public demonstration of its Bayonet 350 Autonomous Underwater Ground Vehicle (AUGV) on June 23, 2025, at the Hotel del Coronado’s North Beach in San Diego, California. The demonstration will take place ahead of the 24th World Dredging Congress & Exposition (WODCON XXIV) and is open to invited guests from the commercial dredging and marine construction industries.The Bayonet 350 is designed for operations in the surf and swash zones—areas that are notoriously difficult to
Kraken Robotics Appoints Kristin Robertson to Board of Directors
of seabed projects including Orca extra-large unmanned undersea vehicle (XLUUV) for the U.S. Navy and served as Board Chairman for five Boeing subsidiaries, including Liquid Robotics.Prior to Boeing, Kristin was employed by the U.S. Navy as a civilian electronics engineer at the Naval Aviation Depot in San Diego, California. She received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of California San Diego and her master’s degree in international business from Saint Louis University.“I am honored to join the board of Kraken Robotics, a company at the forefront of
Phoenix Hires New Area Manager to Lead San Diego-Based Operations
Phoenix International Holdings, Inc. announced that it has hired Michael T. Johnson (Mike) as Area Manager for its San-Diego based operations.A retired U.S. Navy Master Diver and Warrant Officer, Mike Johnson has more than 30 years of hands-on leadership experience and extensive technical expertise within the Naval Salvage and Expeditionary Combat Enterprise, ocean engineering, marine and waterfront construction and operating in extreme environments. He has designed and led projects and programs including large scale fleet exercises with a record of consistently delivering superior outcomes on-time
Research Vessels: A Conversation with Bruce Applegate of UNOLS
as the ships safety protocol and hand on experience with the ships equipment. Students spent the day launching, retrieving, testing and calibrating small scale CTDs they built in the Scripps Makerspace and comparing their data to the larger CTD.Copyright 2025 Scripps Institution of Oceanography / UC San DiegoFleet Ops and Workforce DevelopmentThe decline in available research vessels is one of the most pressing issues facing UNOLS and the ARF. Over the past few decades, the U.S. fleet has shrunk from 34 ships to just 17, limiting research opportunities. “The demand for sea-based research far exceeds
Padilla, Murkowski Introduce Bill for Atmospheric River Forecasting
is critically important to advance forecasts of atmospheric rivers to enable more flexible and resilient water management, improved warning around flooding, and overall improvements to public safety," noted Marty Ralph, Founding Director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography
August 2025
