My experience as the Education Officer on Expedition 329, “South Pacific Gyre Subseafloor Life,” gave me a new and exciting insight into how oceanographic research is done. This has inspired me to present workshops to other educators about the work of the JOIDES Resolution. It gives me great pleasure to be able to liven up workshop presentations with first hand experiences about the expedition. There is nothing like helping out in the labs. Teachers always have lots of questions that I would not be able to answer without the experience of sailing aboard the JR. They are always interested about the food, the stateroom, and what the scientists do during their time off. The food was great and there was quite a variety, the stateroom was small but comfortable, and during leisure time, there is soaking up sun, watching movies and lively conversations.

The focal point of my workshops is the classroom activities that are available on the Deep Earth Academy web site. Since climate change is such a big topic, I like the activity “Secrets of the Sediments.” With this activity, your students will analyze isotope data from actual cores and experience how they can be used to learn about past climate conditions. Students will also discover that there are limitations as to how far back in time we can look and that proxies often must be used. My classroom experience has shown me that students like to use real data when it is presented in a usable form, such as is the case with this acitivity.

Getting some sun

 

Conversations at sea

 

Home Sweet Home – Stateroom

 

Playing the guitar