Professor Cindy Van Dover, Ph.D. is the Harvey W. Smith Distinguished Professor of Biological Oceanography at Duke University.  She was an early explorer of deep-sea hydrothermal vents, joining the first biological expedition in 1982 to the Galapagos hot springs.  She earned her PhD from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program in Oceanography in 1989.  She then joined the team that operates the deep-submergence vehicle Alvin and became a US Navy-certified Alvin pilot in 1990. In her career, she has made nearly 100 dives to the deep seabed, including 48 dives as Pilot-in-Command of Alvin.  She has also been an early adopter of deep-submergence technology, including the ROV Jason, the AUV Sentry, and telepresence, and has served as Chief Scientist on numerous major deep-sea expeditions. In 2000, Van Dover wrote the first textbook on the ecology of hydrothermal vents.  Her research includes more than 150 peer-reviewed papers on the biogeography, trophic ecology, and species’ adaptations in vent ecosystems. In recent years, she has become a leader in the emergent field of deep-sea environmental management, particularly in the context of deep-sea mining in international waters.