Talacek grew up inClayton, North Carolina. He earned his first diving certification while attending UNCW. Talacek subsequently worked inconstruction. In 1993 he was hired as an underwater bridge inspector by theNorth Carolina Department of Transportation (NC DOT) Underwater Unit, gaining experience in underwater construction andsurface-supplied diving. While employed by NC DOT, Talacek earned his Commercial Diving Supervisor certification. He also earned aUnited States Coast GuardCaptain's license andDivemaster certification. Talacek began running dive charters on weekends fromCarolina Beach. During his last six months working for NC DOT, Talacek served as diving supervisor for a dive team stationed at theOuter Banks.[2]
Talacek serves as Oceanographic Field Operations Manager atAquarius Reef Base for theNational Undersea Research Center (NURC). In this position he serves as diving supervisor, Aquarius lead habitat technician, boat captain and Divemaster. Talacek is a certifiedtrimix diver,emergency medical technician (EMT) and advanced diver medic (DMT-A).[2][4] During his first ten-daysaturation diving mission aboard Aquarius in July 2001, Talacek commented, "It's really special to see things that only a small group of people ever get to see. I now understand why everyone on our crew is so anxious to work these saturation missions, because I too am loving every minute!"[5]
As a habitat technician during Aquarius missions, Talacek's responsibilities include habitat operations and maintenance, including carrying out dives to maintain the exterior of the habitat. He also monitorslife support systems, communicates with the crew on shore, and acts as adivemaster for the scientists aboard Aquarius.[6]
Missions aboard Aquarius in which Talacek has participated have included a 2001 mission researchingmantis shrimp,[7] a September 2007coral reef research mission called "If Reefs Could Talk",[8][9] and a June 2006 mission with theU.S. Navy Specialized Research Diving Detachment (SRDD) during which NURC divers investigated the possibility of usingrebreathers during excursions from Aquarius.[10] In August 2009, during the investigation of the death of Aquarius aquanautDewey Smith, Talacek took part in an underwater test in which he operated the hydraulic hammer in use near Smith at the time of his fatal accident in the vicinity of anInspiration closed circuit rebreather (CCR) similar to the one Smith had been using.[11] In July 2012 Talacek served as Lead Habitat Technician for "50 Years of Living Beneath the Sea", an expedition commemorating the fiftieth anniversary ofJacques Cousteau'sConshelf I project and co-led by Dr.Sylvia Earle.[12][13]
Talacek has taken part as a habitat technician in eight of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) missions, a series ofNASA-NOAA missions which use Aquarius as ananalog environment for space exploration. Talacek served as a habitat technician during the following missions:
In May 2007, Talacek and otherNURP/UNCW divers, including fellow Aquarius diversMark Hulsbeck and Jim Buckley, set up a coral monitoring station pylon offshore from the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory inDiscovery Bay, Jamaica for a cooperative program among Caribbean countries called Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC). The station was part ofNOAA'sIntegrated Coral Observing Network (ICON).[1][30] The station was subsequently destroyed duringHurricane Paloma in November 2008.[31]
^abTalacek, James (September 2002)."Aquarius - James Talacek". University of North Carolina Wilmington. Archived fromthe original on December 11, 2012. RetrievedMarch 20, 2012.
