Dr. Dawn Kernagis, NASA-trained NEEMO Aquanaut, Explorer’s Club Fellow and Women Divers Hall of Fame Inductee intends to realise DEEP’s vision to ‘Make Humans Aquatic’

London, UK and Raleigh, NC, USA, 14 November 2023: DEEP® (www.deep.com), the international subsea design, engineering, and expeditions organisation, proudly announces the appointment of Dr. Dawn Kernagis as Director of Scientific Research.

As DEEP’s global Director of Scientific Research, Dr Kernagis now oversees DEEP’s internal scientific research and R&D initiatives, allocation of the DEEP ScienceTM grants budget, and developing and further expanding DEEP’s collaborative scientific partnerships in academia, industry, and government.

Dr Kernagis will establish DEEP’s first US office in Raleigh, North Carolina.

DEEP President, Americas, Sean Wolpert, expresses enthusiasm for Dr. Kernagis’s appointment, stating,

“We are delighted to have someone of Dawn’s calibre lead such a crucial initiative during a transformative period for DEEP. Dawn is a dynamic and universally well-respected leader in her field, and we are excited to have her join us on our journey to establish humanity’s permanent presence in our oceans. Dr. Kernagis’s leadership promises to propel DEEP’s commitment to innovation and the exploration and understanding of our water planet to new depths.”

Dawn unites her remarkable intellect and capabilities as scientist and researcher with practical, real-world expertise and indisputable dive credentials. Her career has spanned numerous prestigious institutions including Duke University and the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, and she currently serves as Vice Chair for Neurosurgery Research at the University of North Carolina and as Neuroprotection Research Lead on a NASA-and United States Department of Defense-funded programme.

Her extraordinary achievements include serving as a crew member for NASA “NEEMO” mission training. NEEMO (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations) is NASA’s programme leveraging sub-sea habitat environments as an analog platform, deploying elite crews of astronauts, scientists, and engineers in order to simulate space missions for up to three weeks at a time. A Fellow of The Explorers Club®, Dawn has been recognised with numerous prestigious awards, including the first US Office of Naval Research Undersea Medicine Program’s Predoctoral Award, the American Heart Association’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, and the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society’s Young Scientist Award.

“I am beyond excited to join the DEEP team and their vision to ‘Make Humans Aquatic,'” says Dr. Kernagis. “DEEP is creating a bold future where sustained human presence undersea will catalyse a renaissance of science and research, conservation, and an improved understanding of the importance of our ocean. Working with DEEP’s world-class engineers, divers, and operational teams to create and expand their scientific portfolio is a dream opportunity.”

To initiate scientific engagement with the public, DEEP is releasing a Request for Information (RFI) to identify future collaborative research opportunities. For additional information on the RFI, please visit: www.deep.com/rfi.