University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television alum Adam Harper (BA Film & Television, ’24) will spend 30 days aboard a research vessel helping collect data from seamounts, abyssal plains and ancient shipwrecks.
He may have been raised in the desert, but for Adam Harper, the open ocean feels like home.
Harper grew up in Tucson, where the landscape stretches wide and the horizon can seem almost endless. Now, he is trading the Sonoran Desert for the Pacific Ocean to spend 30 days as a camera operator aboard the Expedition Vessel Nautilus, researching rarely-explored parts of the seafloor.
“I feel like the open ocean is going to be pretty comfortable to do because it’ll be the most like home, where it is just wide-open desert landscape, except the difference is, instead of air above it is water,” he said.
Harper studied film and television at the University of Arizona, with a minor in marine science. He also played in the marching band at Catalina Foothills High School.
For much of his life, his connection to the ocean came through a screen. He watched nature documentaries and Shark Week. His family also owned Rodriguez Seafood, a Tucson fish market.
After earning his bachelor’s degree from the U of A School of Theatre, Film & Television in 2024, Harper came across an opening with Nautilus Live. But it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment application. He had been following the organization’s annual expeditions for years.
“I remember I would watch the streams and keep them on in the background while I was studying. That thought always sort of came into my head: ‘It would be incredible to be a part of something like that,’” Harper said.
TFTV professor Lisanne Skyler recalls Harper’s interest in oceanography while he was studying film and television. He was also a student ambassador for the department and volunteered at events in Tucson. Skyler said Harper’s selection for the Nautilus Live internship reflects the combination of his academic interests.
The Nautilus Live Science and Engineering internship program sends interns into the field to help map the seafloor, document marine life and explore underwater archaeological sites. The program is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust, a nonprofit founded by ocean explorer Dr. Robert Ballard in 2007 to explore the deep ocean and share that exploration with the public.
Harper was selected as one of 19 interns from hundreds of applicants.
“Adam had an impressive resume, strong background knowledge of production operations from his college experiences, and a genuine enthusiasm for what we do,” said Jamie Zaccaria, a representative of the Ocean Exploration Trust. “He also articulated well how he hopes to use this unique experience to further his career in systems engineering.”
His job will be to help manage about 30 cameras aboard the research vessel, including cameras attached to remotely operated underwater vehicles.
Those cameras are more than just a way to see what is happening beneath the surface. They are central to the expedition’s work.
“That’s actually how we conduct our surveys and our underwater mapping, specifically our dives where we are actually exploring a few archaeological sites and a few underwater sea mounts,” Harper said.
The Nautilus departed Guam ahead of the expedition on Aug. 18, which will take the crew to three areas within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument near Wake Island.
The team plans to collect data from seamounts, abyssal plains and archaeological shipwrecks connected to the Battle of Wake Island in 1941.
Thatcher Warrick Hess, AZPM News
For Harper, one of the most exciting parts is simply how little is known about the region. The remote area of the Pacific has been researched only twice before, making it something of an Earth’s final frontier.
“We’re going to be exploring some of the most unvisited regions of the ocean in that area, and that definitely gave me chills when I first heard about it,” he said.
Harper is one of three interns working in the vessel’s video systems department. Along with managing cameras used during the expedition, he will help keep the ship’s three-camera, 24/7 livestream running — giving people on shore a window into the journey.
The expedition runs from Aug. 20 through Sept. 18, with data and discoveries expected to be shared through Nautilus Live’s website. The team has already started using advanced multibeam sonar mapping of the seafloor on their way to Wake Island.
For Harper, the journey is also a chance to carry a little bit of Tucson with him.
“There’s a big thank you to the town I love and the people within it,” he said. “I literally could not have gotten to this point without anyone.”
Story originally published by AZPM.