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 Jamieson is a Scottish marine biologist, engineer, explorer, and author. He is famous for exploring the deepest parts of our oceans. He studies the amazing creatures that live there.
Alan uses special deep-sea robots called "landers" to learn about ocean life. He has found many new species and shown how human actions affect even the deepest ocean. He has also dived into some of the world's deepest spots in a special submarine. He has been on 65 deep-sea trips and written over 100 science papers.
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Alan's Journey to the Deep Sea
Alan Jamieson was born in Scotland. He grew up in towns like Largs and Longniddry. He went to Preston Lodge High School.
He first studied Design for Industry at Robert Gordon University from 1995 to 1999. In 2000, he joined Oceanlab at the University of Aberdeen. There, he became a mechanical technician.
He also earned his PhD in 2004. His studies focused on using special underwater robots for deep-sea research. He worked with Professor Imants Priede, a well-known deep-sea expert.
Later, Alan became a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. In 2016, he moved to Newcastle University. In 2019, he started his own company, Armatus Oceanic. This company focuses on marine technology and expeditions.
In 2021, he became a professor at the University of Western Australia. He also became the founding director of their Deep-Sea Research Centre. In 2024, he received an award called the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This was for his important work in marine biology, engineering, and exploration.
Discovering Deep-Sea Life
Alan's early work looked at how deep-sea fish behave. He also studied bioluminescence, which is when living things make their own light. He helped design special cameras to explore the ocean floor.
He then started exploring the hadal zone. This is the deepest part of the ocean, more than 6,000 meters (about 3.7 miles) deep. He built two special landers that could go almost 11,000 meters deep. These landers carried cameras and traps.
Between 2007 and 2013, he led many expeditions. These trips led to amazing discoveries:
- He found the deepest prawn ever seen.
- He filmed fish deeper than 6,000 meters for the first time.
- He filmed the deepest fish in the Southern Hemisphere.
- He found the deepest eel ever.
- He discovered the "supergiant amphipod," a huge shrimp-like creature.
These discoveries happened in deep ocean trenches around the world. A new species of amphipod was even named after him: Princaxelia jamiesoni.
In 2014, Alan worked on the "Hades" projects. During one trip, a robot submarine was lost. But Alan quickly built a new deep-sea trap from spare parts. With this trap, he caught the deepest fish ever at that time, called Pseudoliparis swirei.
On another trip to the Mariana Trench, 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.
From 2015 to 2017, Alan led more expeditions. He explored the South Shetland Trough in Antarctica. He also joined a Japanese expedition to the Mariana Trench for a Discovery Channel documentary.
His recent work includes filming the deepest octopus and squid ever seen. He also helped design a special submarine called the Limiting Factor. He even helped with a plan to stop plastic pollution in the oceans.
A copy of Alan's deep-sea lander was used in the famous documentary Blue Planet II. You can see it going down into a computer-generated ocean trench.
Alan often shares his discoveries with the public. He has spoken at events like New Scientist Live and on BBC World Service. In 2021, he gave a TEDx talk about his dives to the deepest ocean, including 11 kilometers down in the Mariana Trench.
In 2022, his team found the deepest fish off mainland Australia. It was at a depth of 6,177 meters (about 3.8 miles). Alan has helped describe 12 new species of animals.
The Five Deeps Expedition
In 2018, Alan Jamieson became 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 using a special two-person submarine.
Alan joined the expedition in July 2018. He oversaw 103 deep-sea lander deployments. These were in places like the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mariana Trench in the Pacific.
During this expedition, Alan made several deep dives himself:
- He went 7,180 meters (about 4.5 miles) deep in the Sunda Trench. This made him the first British person to reach such depths.
- He then dived 10,710 meters (about 6.6 miles) deep in the Sirena Deep in the Mariana Trench. This made him the 8th deepest diving human in history.
- He also dived 7,200 meters in the Puerto Rico Trench and 2,000 meters in the Arctic Ocean.
In 2020, Alan continued his deep-sea work. He explored the wreck of the French submarine La Minerve. He also explored the deepest point of the Red Sea, including the Kebrit Brine Pool, in a submarine.
Ring of Fire Expeditions
From 2020 to 2022, Alan was the chief scientist for the Ring of Fire Expeditions. He led trips to the Eastern Mariana Trench and the Philippine Trench. During these trips, they found the wreck of the USS Johnston DD-557. He also dived over 10,000 meters deep in the Philippine Trench. This was the same area where, in 1951, the Danish Galathea Expedition proved that life existed beyond 10,000 meters.
In 2021, he led an expedition to the East Indian Ocean. He completed six submarine dives there, reaching depths between 4,400 and 6,600 meters. 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. He also dived 9,137 meters deep in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench.
Important Books and Discoveries
In 2015, Alan Jamieson wrote a book called The Hadal Zone, Life in the Deepest Oceans. This book was nominated for an award and was praised by film director James Cameron.
He also wrote about the discovery of microplastics in the deepest parts of the ocean. He was part of a campaign with the WWF to name a deep-sea species Eurythenes plasticus to highlight plastic pollution.
The Deep-Sea Podcast
Since 2020, Alan 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 has interviewed many interesting guests. These include film director James Cameron and Prince Albert II of Monaco. In one episode, he even interviewed a submarine pilot from inside the DSV Limiting Factor while they were over 10,000 meters deep!
Images for kids
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Alan Jamieson in 2022
See Also
- Deep sea
- Ocean exploration
- Marine biology
