Oregon State University West Coast Van Pool Year 1 of 5

The West Coast Van Pool currently consists of nine portable laboratory vans – two General Purpose (GP) Vans, three Isotope Vans, two Cold Vans, one Accommodations Van, and one Calibration Van that are all owned by the National Science Foundation or Oregon State University. This Van Pool supports scientific operations and data collection in the West Coast region, aboard National Science Foundation (NSF) supported Research Vessels by supplying required additional specialized portable laboratory space.

The principal impact of the present proposal is under Merit Review Criterion 2 of the Proposal Guidelines (NSF 23-525). It provides infrastructure support for scientists to use the vessel and its shared-use instrumentation in support of their NSF-funded oceanographic research projects (which individually undergo separate review by the relevant research program of NSF).

The acquisition, maintenance and operation of shared-use instrumentation allows NSF-funded researchers from any US university or lab access to working, calibrated instruments for their research, reducing the cost of that research, and expanding the base of potential researchers.

The West Coast Van Pool currently consists of nine portable laboratory vans – two General Purpose (GP) Vans, three Isotope Vans, two Cold Vans, one Accommodations Van, and one Calibration Van that are all owned by the National Science Foundation or Oregon State University. Management responsibilities for the West Coast Van Pool include scheduling, van transportation to and from vessels calling in Newport or other ports as required, maintenance, repairs, and outfitting.

This Van Pool supports scientific operations and data collection in the West Coast region, aboard National Science Foundation (NSF) supported Research Vessels by supplying required additional specialized portable laboratory space. In the last five years, the West Coast Van Pool has seen a continual increase in use of the portable laboratories in support of NSF-funded projects.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.