Alan Jamieson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Jamieson
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Alan Jamieson in 2022
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| Nationality | Scottish |
| Education | Zoology, PhD, University of Aberdeen |
| Occupation | Professor at University of Western Australia, Founding Director at Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre |
Alan John Jamieson is a Scottish marine biologist, engineer, explorer, and author. He is famous for exploring the deepest parts of the ocean and studying the amazing creatures that live there. He uses special underwater robots called landers to learn about how deep different sea creatures can live. He has found many new types of animals and shown how human activities, like pollution, affect even the deepest parts of the ocean.
During the Five Deeps Expedition and other trips, he went on amazing dives in a special submarine to the very deepest spots on Earth. He has written over 100 science papers and been on 65 trips to explore the deep sea.
Alan Jamieson's Journey to the Deep Sea
Alan Jamieson was born in Scotland. He grew up in places like Largs and Longniddry. He went to Preston Lodge High School.
Early Studies and First Steps
From 1995 to 1999, he studied Design for Industry at Robert Gordon University. In 2000, he joined Oceanlab at the University of Aberdeen. There, he worked as a mechanical technician. He also earned his PhD in 2004. His PhD focused on using special underwater robots for deep-sea research.
He worked and studied with Professor Imants Priede. After two research jobs, he became a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. In 2016, he moved to Newcastle University.
Starting His Own Company
In 2019, Alan Jamieson started his own company called Armatus Oceanic. This company focuses on new marine technology, expeditions, and sharing science. Through Armatus Oceanic, he co-hosts The Deep Sea Podcast.
In April 2021, he became a professor at the University of Western Australia. He also became the founding director of their Deep-Sea Research Centre.
Special Recognition
In the 2024 New Year Honours, Alan Jamieson was given the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award. This was for his important work in marine biology, underwater engineering, and exploration.
Exploring the Deepest Ocean
Alan Jamieson's early work looked at deep-sea fish behavior. He also studied bioluminescence, which is when living things make their own light. He worked on projects that designed special cameras to see the seafloor. He also helped survey deep-water light for a huge underwater telescope project called KM3NeT.
Discovering Life in the Hadal Zone
While at Oceanlab, he started exploring the hadal zone. This is the deepest part of the ocean, more than 6,000 meters (about 3.7 miles) deep. He designed and built two special landers. These robots could go almost 11,000 meters (about 6.8 miles) deep. They carried cameras, traps, and other sensors.
Between 2007 and 2013, he led many expeditions. These trips led to amazing discoveries:
- The deepest prawn ever found.
- The first video of fish living deeper than 6,000 meters.
- The deepest fish filmed in the Southern Hemisphere.
- The deepest fish ever filmed at that time.
- The deepest eel ever found.
- The first video of the 'supergiant amphipod' in the hadal zone.
These discoveries happened in trenches like the Japan Trench, Mariana Trench, and Kermadec Trench. A new species of amphipod was even named after him: Princaxelia jamiesoni.
The Hades Projects
In 2014, Jamieson was a main scientist on the "Hades" projects. These trips went to the Kermadec and Mariana Trenches. During the Kermadec trip, a special robot called Nereus was lost. But Jamieson quickly built a new deep-sea lander from spare parts. This new lander, called the Wee Trap, caught the deepest fish ever at that time, Pseudoliparis swirei.
On the Mariana Trench trip, he set a new record for the deepest fish. This was the 'Ethereal snailfish' found at 8,145 meters (about 5 miles) deep. He also got the first video of the supergiant amphipod, Alicella gigantea.
More Expeditions and Discoveries
From 2015 to 2017, Jamieson led the ‘PharmaDEEP’ expedition to the South Shetland Trough in Antarctica. He also joined a Japanese expedition to the Mariana Trench in 2017. This trip was for a Discovery Channel documentary called Deep Ocean, Descent into the Mariana Trench.
Some of his recent work includes filming the deepest cephalopod (like an octopus) and deepest squid. He also helped describe the special deep-sea submarine called Limiting Factor. He helped with a plan to stop plastic pollution with Andrew Forrest.
A copy of Jamieson's Hadal-Lander was used in the documentary Blue Planet II. It was shown going into a deep ocean trench.
He has given talks at events like New Scientist Live and Ocean TEDx KingsPark. In 2022, his team found the deepest fish off mainland Australia. It was at a depth of 6,177 meters (about 3.8 miles).
His scientific abbreviation is Jamieson. He has helped describe 12 new species.
The Five Deeps Expedition
In 2018, explorer Victor Vescovo chose Alan Jamieson to be the Chief Scientist for the Five Deeps Expedition. The goal was to map and visit the deepest point in all five of the world's oceans. This was done by September 2019 using a special two-person submarine.
Jamieson joined the expedition ship, the DSSV Pressure Drop, in July 2018. He managed 103 deep-sea lander deployments. These were in oceans all over the world, including the Atlantic, Southern, Indian, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans.
During the expedition, he made several deep dives himself:
- 7,180 meters (about 4.4 miles) in the Sunda Trench. This made him the first British citizen to reach hadal depths.
- 10,710 meters (about 6.6 miles) in Sirena Deep in the Mariana Trench. This made him the 8th deepest diving human in history.
- 7,200 meters (about 4.4 miles) in the Puerto Rico Trench.
- 2,000 meters (about 1.2 miles) in the Arctic Ocean.
In 2020, Jamieson rejoined the DSSV Pressure Drop for more expeditions. He was Chief Scientist for a trip to the deepest point of the Red Sea. There, he and Victor Vescovo explored the Kebrit Brine Pool in the submarine.
Ring of Fire Expeditions
From 2020 to 2022, Jamieson continued as Chief Scientist on the DSSV Pressure Drop for the Ring of Fire Expeditions. He led a trip to the Eastern Mariana Trench. He also took part in an expedition to the Philippine Trench. On this trip, they found the wreck of the USS Johnston DD-557. He also dove over 10,000 meters (about 6.2 miles) deep at a spot where, in 1951, the Danish Galathea Expedition proved life existed.
In 2021, he led a trip to the East Indian Ocean. He completed six submarine dives there, reaching depths between 6,600 and 4,400 meters (about 4.1 to 2.7 miles). In 2022, he led an expedition to the trenches around Japan. He made the first manned dive to the Ryukyu Trench at 7,322 meters (about 4.5 miles). He also dove 9,137 meters (about 5.6 miles) deep in the northern Izu-Ogasawara Trench.
Important Books and Papers
In 2015, Jamieson published a book called The Hadal Zone, Life in the Deepest oceans. This book was nominated for an award and supported by film director James Cameron. He also wrote introductions for some fiction novels.
He has written important scientific papers. One paper, published in Nature ecology & evolution, was about how pollution builds up in the deepest ocean animals. Another paper in Deep Sea Research Part I was about fish in the hadal zone.
Jamieson was part of the team that found microplastics in the deepest parts of the ocean. He also helped with a campaign with the WWF to name a hadal species Eurythenes plasticus because of the plastic found in it.
The Deep-Sea Podcast
Since 2020, Alan Jamieson has co-hosted The Deep-Sea Podcast. His co-hosts are Dr Thom Linley and Captain Don Walsh. Captain Walsh is famous for his 1960 dive to the Mariana Trench in the Trieste submarine.
On the podcast, Alan Jamieson has interviewed many interesting guests. These include Dr Glenn Singleman, author Susan Casey, and film director James Cameron. In one episode, he even interviewed a submarine pilot from inside the DSV Limiting Factor at a depth of over 10,000 meters in the Philippine Trench.
