MNF Subscriber eNewsletter | August 2025

Director's message

Welcome to the latest edition of the Marine National Facility (MNF) newsletter.

It’s been a big few months for the MNF and we’ve enjoyed plenty of opportunities to engage the wider community on a range of topics.

In July, we called on the research community to provide input into our MNF Capability Needs Survey to help guide our future investment in capability enhancements and upgrades to research vessel (RV) Investigator. We were extremely pleased to receive more than 20 submissions from members of the research community and we thank everyone who took the time to make a submission in this first call. The information gathered is now helping inform the development of our MNF 5-Year Strategic Capital Expenditure Plan which will be designed to ensure we continue to support national priority research needs now and into the future.

Please note that capability proposals can still be made at any time and submissions will continue to be compiled at regular intervals for review by the MNF Technical and Innovation Advisory Group (TIAG).

In July, we had the pleasure of connecting with the research community at the Australian Marine Sciences Association Conference in Melbourne. This was another great opportunity to share information about upcoming MNF voyages and projects and to gather feedback from researchers on ways the MNF can support their work.

Last month we opened up RV Investigator to the public in Hobart, welcoming hundreds of people - and the team from the ABC Radio Hobart's Afternoons Program - on board to visit the vessel for our Ship Open Day. Thank you to everyone who came to visit Australia’s amazing science ship – we loved having you!

Now I’m going to ask our research community to do something to help support the MNF. When research infrastructure funding is being shared across more and more valuable facilities, it is clear to me just how important it is to have our researchers and collaborators - who use and benefit from our data and RV Investigator sea time in advancing their research - to acknowledge the MNF in research papers, media and other publications. Aside from being a requirement for using our scientific services, this acknowledgement is extremely important as it demonstrates to the wider public the value and impact of the MNF.

These acknowledgements will become increasingly powerful in assisting us when we are seeking future funding for the MNF so we thank you, in advance, for your support in this.

Please reach out to the MNF team if you have a research paper coming up. We are always keen to promote the impact of our collective collaboration and highlight your work across our channels.

For now, have a happy and safe few months and I wish all those heading to sea on RV Investigator safe and successful voyages.

Toni Moate
MNF Director

CAPSTAN Call 2025 Promo Video_CSIRO

[Music plays and an image appears of a long line of students walking up a gangway onto the ship RV Investigator]

[Image changes to show a smiling male on the left turning to look over the ship’s bow as a male and female are looking over the bow on the right, the female turns around briefly laughing at the camera]

[Camera pans left to show a female talking to a male as she’s looking out over the ship’s bow]

[Image changes to show the coastline in the background, the ship’s radar mast in the centre and in the foreground a female is taking a photo on the left]

[Image changes to show a male crew member giving a presentation to voyage participants in a breakroom]

[Image changes to show a male crew member talking to listening participants]

[Image changes to show a line of participants standing on a deck below the bridge looking out to sea]

[Image changes to show a rear view of the participants looking out to sea]

[Image changes to show the Investigator sailing towards the camera on the choppy sea]

[Images move through to show crew members lowering a winch with a sediment sample collected and then emptying the sample into a tray at the ship’s stern]

[Image changes to show participants sifting the sample and recording data]

[Image changes to show a male talking and holding an open research book as three males are looking at the book]

[Image changes to show a female using binoculars to look out of a ship’s window]

[Image changes to show a female using a computer and then turning and talking to the participants flipping through a research book in the foreground]

[Image changes to show participants looking at a bank of computers of various collected data, and a male talking and pointing to the left screen]

[Image changes to show a female talking to two listening participants]

[Images move through to show the female talking a colleague through collecting a sample of clear liquid into a conical flask from a multi corer, and the camera zooms in on the liquid in the flask]

[Image changes to show a male talking with participants, a male places a bottled sample on the bench]

[Image changes to show a close view of the clear liquid being poured into filtration funnels]

[Image changes to show participants playing a card game in the breakroom]

[Image changes to show a female collecting a sample from a multi corer, and then the image changes to show another female collecting a sample from the multi corer]

[Image changes to show a rear view of female looking over the shoulder of a female looking into a microscope]

[Image changes to show a female squinting down through a microscope]

[Image changes to show the RV Investigator sailing towards the camera on a choppy sea as the camera pans up to the masts of the ship and then pans down towards the ship’s bow]

[Images move through to show participants sitting and standing in a dark room watching a monitor screen showing the sea floor, the camera zooms in on a male and female sitting at the front laughing]

[Image changes to show a close view of the monitor screen zooming in on the sea]

[Images move through to show participants watching and listening to a female talking while using lab equipment]

[Image changes to show a room full of participants sitting and interacting together]

[Images move through to show crew members winching up a sample collector as participants watch on at the ship’s stern ready to collect the sample]

[Image changes to show a female hosing the contents of a metal bowl sieve and then another female appearing beside her to watch, and then the camera zooms in on the sample in the sieve]

[Images move through to show a hand balancing a small tray with a sample on a container under a microscope, and then the camera zooms out showing participants looking through the microscope]

[Image changes to show a close view of ship windows showing the reflection of the sea ripping below with the coastline in the background]

[Image changes to show a small island]

[Image changes to show a rear view of three participants looking over the ship’s rail at an island, and then the camera zooms in between two of the participants looking at the island]

[Image changes to show a rear view of a female and a male looking out to sea from beside a lifeboat]

[Image changes to show birds swarming the top of an island]

[Image changes to show a view of the island looking from the ship]

[Image changes to show a side view of participants at the ship’s bow looking out to sea]

[Image changes to show a female giving a presentation as she is pointing at a screen showing the “Sea level anomaly”]

[Image changes to show an engine room with participants walking past in the background]

[Image changes to show the RV Investigator sailing as the camera rotates left around the ship]

[Image changes to show a close side view from the bow of the ship looking up to the bridge]

[Image changes to show participants playing table tennis]

[Image changes to show a laughing female giving a presentation]

[Image changes to show a male crew member talking to participants]

[Image changes to show a female on the right taking a photo of the diesel generator as a male looks on from the right]

[Image changes to show a long line of participants waving from the ship’s bow]

[Image changes to show a white screen with the logos of CSIRO, University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies and the Australian and New Zealand International Scientific Drilling Consortium between text: CAPSTAN, Seas the opportunity!, www.csiro.au/capstan]

[VIDEO] Highlights of 2025 CAPSTAN voyage

Follow the journey of 30 university students and trainers as they take to the high seas on their voyage to circumnavigate Tasmania in the CAPSTAN sea training program.