I feel incredibly lucky to be a participant in the School of Rock this year.  For the next two weeks, my School of Rock comrades and I will be working alongside scientists exploring cores and developing educational resources. We’re departing out of Victoria, British Columbia, and are headed for Site 889 (about a 16-hour voyage). The specific purpose of this expedition is to install a CORK–not quite like one found in a bottle, but a Circulation Obviation Retrofit Kit. The CORK will monitor pressure at different depths in the ocean floor over time.

As part of my role as a science educator at KQED Public Media in San Francisco, I will be working with the other School of Rock participants on the JOIDES Resolution to create short multimedia pieces about our experiences and about the drilling research we will be taking part in. These slideshows and videos will be great tools for engaging students in various aspects of earth science, careers and to help them better understand current scientific research. My arsenal of equipment contains 10 Flip Video cameras, 10 tripods, an audio recorder, digital camera, several sets of headphones and the all-important laptop. I’m looking forward to seeing the creativity of my colleagues!