My journey as a JR Onboard Outreach Officer – Laura Guertin
Laura guertin in front of the JOIDES Resolution (JR)
The scientific drilling vessel JOIDES Resolution (JR) and its predecessor Glomar Challenger are mentioned in textbooks for their significant contributions to our knowledge of deep-sea oceanography. It was the third expedition of Glomar Challenger (Leg 3) in 1968 that yielded samples to provide evidence of seafloor spreading and to prove the theory of plate tectonics. Little did I know that approximately 50 years later, I would be on the JR transiting to the same region in the South Atlantic Ocean where those samples were collected and doing outreach about the expedition!
I’m a faculty member at Penn State Brandywine (Media, PA). My background is in geology and oceanography, and I teach introductory-level courses in the Earth sciences for non-STEM majors. I’m always searching for opportunities to get out in the field, as the experience is something that advances my own knowledge of science, research methods, and technologies. And this new information is exciting to bring back into the classroom and share with students how and where we do science, as well as why it matters. I’ve been on a field seminar in Iceland, sailed on the NOAA ship Thomas Jefferson as a NOAA Teacher at Sea, and joining the JOIDES Resolution was one of those “bucket list” items I wasn’t sure I would be able to accomplish – but I knew I had to try!
Each JR expedition sails a minimum of one Onboard Outreach Officer (OOO). The person selected to serve in this position shares the mission of the two-month expedition through the JR social media accounts, blog posts on the expedition website, live ship-to-shore broadcasts for classrooms and community groups, and engages in additional outreach projects of their own design. Opportunities to sail are posted on the JR web page, Want to sail on the JR as an Onboard Outreach Officer? I’ve detailed My journey to becoming an Outreach Officer on the JOIDES Resolution starting with the application process, the interview phase, and then the joy of receiving the final selection and expedition assignment!
A view of the derrick on the JR, as seen across the helipad
One of the challenges I faced at the beginning was pulling together the application itself. Having never sailed on a scientific ocean drilling vessel, I wasn’t sure what unique perspective and contributions I could make to education and outreach, as there is already extensive material on the JR website For Educators and prior expedition blog postings. So I wrote my essays highlighting my passions and what I enjoy doing, such as my science storytelling through quilting, as well as my pedagogical accomplishments. Meeting with the co-chief scientists before and during the expedition has allowed me to adjust and add new projects to my educational goals at sea, too – I so appreciate the flexibility!
And I can’t emphasize enough the amazing preparation and support of becoming an OOO. I attended On-site training to be an Onboard Outreach Officer on JOIDES Resolution, which included a Tour of the IODP Gulf Coast Repository. The OOOs from four different expeditions came together for the training, which allowed us to connect and develop as a community. We have been supporting each other across all of our expeditions and still keep in touch with each other, which has been so valuable when we have questions before the expedition and while at sea.
My time at sea overlaps with my semester schedule. Fortunately, I have an incredibly supportive campus administration that is allowing me the time outside of the classroom to fully engage in this expedition. Instead of teaching my courses this semester, I will teach these classes as an overload in the upcoming academic year. As I am the only geologist on campus and we don’t have the option of substitute teachers to come in mid-semester, this was the only option that would be fair to students, as there is no way I would be able to teach while maintaining the full-time responsibilities on the ship working a 12-hour shift every day for seven days a week for two months. But at least I am seeing some of my campus students through Zoom sessions to classrooms back at my institution, including connecting with a Communications class to talk about how we communicate and educate from the sea!
A beautiful sunset at sea from on board the JR
I’m currently on board Expedition 390, South Atlantic Transect I, from April 7 to June 7, 2022. In addition to my assigned duties of social media postings, blogging, and leading ship-to-shore broadcasts (I’ll be doing over 40 Zoom sessions!), I’ve begun some of my other projects. I’m using Google Earth to show the daily location of the ship – it’s more helpful than saying we are somewhere in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean! I also created an interface in Google Earth to show where our current scientists on board are from, reflecting that this really is an international investigation. One of my fun projects is called Voicemails from the JR, where I’m asking individuals on board to pretend they called home, but all they got is the answering machine so they have to leave an audio recording about something that happened during their day. These are great ways to use Google Earth for sharing expedition information and for teachers to have something to explore with students before we connect for our live sessions.
And as for my storytelling through science quilting? I created two quilts before I came out on the JR (DSDP Leg 3 and What to know before we go), and I look forward to creating more about the expedition when I return home! In the meantime, I brought some mini-quilts to hang in the Mess Hall to share with others. As I dream of the ocean-themed quilts to come, I continue my engagement with fun blogs posts such as How Expedition 390 advances ocean literacy and posts that compare the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger which sailed on the first oceanographic research expedition 150 years ago (see The ships that sailed before us and Communications as sea before person wi-fi).
Reach out if you have any questions what it is like to live, work, and teach from the sea! I’m more than willing to share my adventure with you and your students! Live tours from JOIDES Resolution can be booked online.
About the Author
Laura Guertin is a Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at Penn State Brandywine (Media, PA). She wrote this blog post while serving as an Onboard Outreach Officer on JOIDES Resolution. You can find her on Instagram at @drlauraguertin.