After a 13-year stint working on nuclear reactors for the US Navy, Bob has been our marine research technician in the machine shop for 26 years. After Gary Grenier’s retirement in 2017, he now has to manage the workload in the shop himself. Bob simply describes his day-to-day job as “fix and repair,” which is an understatement. Without his skills, the Department of Marine Sciences (DMS) would be at a loss.
As a trained machinist, Bob has contributed to a majority of DMS research projects by helping faculty design, build, and test prototype equipment, while also maintaining and repairing it when it breaks. Earlier during his tenure, Bob also enjoyed servicing the departments’ small submersibles and remotely operated vehicles (ROV), which required particular care due to the nature of high-pressure equipment. Over the years, he helped shape the machine shop into the highly functional facility that it is today.
Major experimental setups like the flow-through system in the Rankin Seawater Lab were constructed with Bob’s input and hard work. Bob also helped building the Larval Fish Rearing System that allows experimental manipulations of water temperature, CO2 and oxygen levels to study potential effects of marine climate change on marine organisms. In Bob’s spare time, he helps other technicians with repairs on our marine vessels and teaching laboratories. Outside the machine shop, Bob’s friends and family value his mechanical skills.
DMS research operations rely on Bob’s expertise to construct prototypes and conserve functional equipment. As a department we fortunate to have such a skilled and caring technician.
