Mark Whitney Hulsbeck (born February 20, 1956) is an American professional

aquanaut An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as satura ...

. He serves as an Oceanographic Operations Field Manager and research diver for the

Aquarius Reef Base The Aquarius Reef Base is an underwater habitat located 5.4 miles (9 kilometers) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It is deployed on the ocean floor 62 feet (19 meters) below the surface and next to a deep coral reef nam ...

, the world's only undersea research laboratory, operated by

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

. Hulsbeck is nicknamed "Otter".

Early life and career

Hulsbeck was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and grew up in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for five years as a helicopter rescue aircrewman. He subsequently earned a degree in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

from the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

. Hulsbeck then joined the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the NOAA Corps, is one of eight federal uniformed services of the United States, and operates under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administ ...

, in which he served as Navigation Officer on the

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

ship ''Malcolm Baldrige'' during its

circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circ ...

of the Earth. Hulsbeck's professional qualifications include a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

's license. He is also a

Professional Association of Diving Instructors The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) is a recreational diving membership and diver training organization founded in 1966 by John Cronin and Ralph Erickson. Cronin was originally a NAUI instructor who decided to form his ...

Master Scuba Diver Master Scuba Diver (MSD) is a scuba diving certification or recognition level offered by several North American diver training agencies, such as the National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI), the Professional Association of Diving I ...

Trainer, an International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers

Nitrox Nitrox refers to any gas mixture composed (excepting trace gases) of nitrogen and oxygen. This includes atmospheric air, which is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases, primarily argon. In the usual application, underwater ...

Instructor, a

Divers Alert Network Divers Alert Network (DAN) is a group of not-for-profit organizations dedicated to improving diving safety for all divers. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina, United States, in 1980 at Duke University providing 24/7 telephonic hot-line div ...

Oxygen Instructor and a Dive Medical Technician.

Aquarius and NEEMO

In October 2001, Hulsbeck took part as a habitat technician in the

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO, is a NASA analog mission that sends groups of astronauts, engineers and scientists to live in the Aquarius (laboratory), Aquarius underwater laboratory, the world's only undersea research sta ...

1 mission ( NEEMO 1), the first of a series of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

-NOAA missions which use Aquarius as an analog environment for space exploration. The NEEMO 1 crew lived and worked underwater aboard Aquarius for seven days. In July 2006, Hulsbeck served as a habitat technician during the NEEMO 10 mission, the crew of which also lived underwater for seven days.Aquarius (2016) 'News , Aquarius'. https://aquarius.fiu.edu/press-1/news/2016/#nasa-conducts-day-mission-in-preparation-of-neemo-21 Hulsbeck's other missions aboard Aquarius have included a June 2004

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

study led by Dr. James Leichter of the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for oceanography, ocean and Earth science research ...

and an October 2007 mission studying the role of

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

s in coastal

nitrogen cycle The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. The conversion of nitrogen can be carried out through both biologi ...

s. Hulsbeck had taken part in nineteen Aquarius missions as of July 2011. In June and July 2014, Hulsbeck served as lead habitat technician aboard Aquarius during

Fabien Cousteau Fabien Cousteau (born 2 October 1967) is an aquanaut, ocean conservationist, and documentary filmmaker. As the first grandson of Jacques Cousteau, Fabien spent his early years aboard his grandfather's ships Calypso and Alcyone, and learned h ...

's Mission 31 expedition, living and working underwater for 31 days. In May 2007, Hulsbeck and other

NURP NURP may refer to: * National Undersea Research Program * Nationwide Urban Runoff Program {{disambig ...

/UNCW divers, including fellow Aquarius divers James Talacek and Jim Buckley, set up a coral monitoring station pylon offshore from the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory in

Discovery Bay, Jamaica Discovery Bay is a town in Saint Ann Parish on the northern coast of Jamaica. The city is also known locally as Dry Harbour, and gives its name to the Dry Harbour Mountains in St. Ann. There is a dispute as to whether Christopher Columbus first l ...

, for a cooperative program among Caribbean countries called Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC). The station was part of NOAA's Integrated Coral Observing Network (ICON). The station was subsequently destroyed during

Hurricane Paloma Hurricane Paloma was the seventh most intense November Atlantic hurricane on record. It was the sixteenth tropical storm, eighth hurricane and fifth major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. A late-season hurricane, it set several r ...

in November 2008.

Personal life

Hulsbeck enjoys reading, diving and boating. He is married with three children and a son from a previous marriage.

Publications

* *

Notes

External links

Aquarius bio (2011)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hulsbeck, Mark 1956 births Living people American underwater divers Aquanauts National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration personnel People from Cincinnati People from Orlando, Florida People from Venice, Florida United States Navy sailors University of North Carolina at Wilmington University of South Florida alumni