FROM THE NEST | SUMMER 2024 | 7 A new Lehigh Oceans Research Center, launched by the College of Arts and Sciences, aims to address the most pressing questions facing the Earth’s oceans. Four Lehigh researchers are affiliated with the center: Jill McDermott, associate professor of Earth and environmental sciences and the inaugural director of the center; Santiago Herrera, assistant professor of biological sciences; Michael Layden, associate professor of biological sciences; and John Paul Balmonte, assistant professor of Earth and environmental sciences. Advancing Knowledge “Lehigh Oceans is the vision of an interdisciplinary team of scientists who are committed to studying some of our most pressing environmental issues,” said Robert Flowers, the Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, at an inaugural symposium. “We can all agree that the world’s oceans are vast, but they are also complex and largely unexplored. Understanding the world’s largest biome is critical to our future. The core team of researchers comprising Lehigh Oceans, along with the students they mentor, will help advance our knowledge about the origins of life on Earth, and what creates a healthy ecosystem and thriving planet.” Exploring the Earth’s Oceans New center brings together interdisciplinary team to study the vast ocean system. RESEARCH ARTIFACTS FOUND More than 90 Native American artifacts—including pieces of pottery, tools and a flint knifepoint believed to be about 3,000 years old—were found on property owned by Lehigh in Upper Saucon Township. The artifacts were being returned to Delaware Nation, a sovereign, federally recognized nation of Lenape people whose traditional homelands encompass the Lehigh Valley, including what is today Lehigh’s campus. The artifacts, which include tools made of jasper, quartz and chalce- dony, were found during a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation archeological survey of nearly 100 acres, about half of which is owned by Lehigh. Delaware Nation planned to display them in their new museum at their headquarters in Oklahoma. Lehigh signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Delaware Nation in October 2023, signaling an ongoing, reciprocal partnership. PARTNERSHIP A Complex Environment The center aligns with Lehigh’s Strategic Plan, which calls for an investment in interdisciplinary research and the redefinition of an interdisciplinary education. Among those in the center are chemists, microbiologists, biologists and other scientists. McDermott, at the symposium, discussed the center’s significance: “One thing we all have in common is that we work in the ocean system. One of the reasons this is vital is that the ocean is such a complex environment, that there isn’t just one system that can fully explain everything. We are better poised to find creative solutions to problems if we can bring together lots of different disciplines of science.” McDermott recently led a team of scientists who discovered five new hydrothermal vents in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. The discovery was supported, and in many ways accelerated, by use of a deep-sea robot and a human-occupied submarine. The National Science Foundation funded the expedition.—Mary Ellen Alu Jill McDermott is the inaugural director of the center. Human-occupied vehicle (HOV) Alvin arriving at the sea floor. CHRISTINE T. KRESCHOLLEK
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