During the month of May, Deep Earth Academy (DEA) has focused its energy on planning education programs for upcoming expeditions. One of the most exciting developments has been the formation of an international team of six educators and illustrators who will join the Juan de Fuca Hydrogeology Expedition this summer. Deep Earth Academy is coordinating this groundbreaking opportunity onboard the JOIDES Resolution, where the team will work with expedition scientists and each other to create innovative learning and teaching tools designed to facilitate the communication of scientific drilling results to broad audiences. U.S. participants are Dinah Bowman of Dinah Bowman Studio and Gallery in Portland, Texas; Stephanie Keske of Texas A&M University’s Department of Visualization in College Station, Texas; Jacqueline Kane of St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, Ohio; and Bejonty Richardson from Virginia State University. Two teachers from the Normandy region of France will join the group: Jean Marie Gautier hails from Saint Clair Sur L’Elle, France and Brigitte Thiberge is from Lycée Alain Chartier in Bayeux, France. Recently, participants have attended webinars to learn about the history of scientific drilling and the science goals and objectives of the Juan de Fuca expedition. Participants are eagerly making plans for their first experience onboard the JOIDES Resolution and will soon post blog entries on the www.joidesresolution.org web site. The Juan de Fuca Hydrogeology Expedition begins in Victoria, Canada on July 5, 2010.

In addition to planning education programs for Juan de Fuca, Deep Earth Academy has been laying the groundwork for its annual “School of Rock” marine geology workshop for teachers and informal educators. This year, School of Rock will take place onboard the JOIDES Resolution September 9-18, 2010 during IODP Expedition 328 Cascadia ACORK. The ship will depart from and return to Victoria, Canada and a total of 15 participants will spend ten days at sea learning about scientific ocean drilling, the geology of the Cascadia subduction zone in the northeast Pacific, and CORK observatories. Applications for School of Rock were due in May and finalists will be announced in June. Throughout the month, the School of Rock instructors (representing Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and Texas A&M University) have been working on the curriculum for the expedition and look forward to greeting the participants in Victoria in early September.

As May comes to a close, DEA staff is reviewing applications for the Education Officer position onboard the JOIDES Resolution during the South Pacific Gyre Microbiology Expedition, which is designed to document the habitats, activities, composition and biomass of microbial communities in subseafloor sediments. The South Pacific Gyre Expedition will depart Papeete, Tahiti on 9 October, 2010 and return to Auckland, New Zealand on 13 December. The Education Officer will be responsible for sharing the expedition science with students, educators, and the general public by blogging, maintaining social networking sites and facilitating live video conferences to classrooms, museums and special events on shore.

Related Posts:

• Program Update: Deep Earth Academy – August 2010
• Program Update: Deep Earth Academy – July 2010
• Program Update: Integrated Ocean Drilling Program – July 2010
• Program Update: Deep Earth Academy – April 2010
• Program Update: Deep Earth Academy – February 2010