Since high school, Paula Weiss has been interested in the sciences; her first love was archaeology. She spent a summer during high school working on an archaeological dig in the Delaware Water Gap on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border. However, in college she majored in Geology and specialized in Paleobotany, earning a masters degree from Indiana University.

After completing her education she accepted a job working for the Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) at Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. That was in 1981 when the drill ship was the renowned Glomar Challenger. After 25 years on the job she is now working for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, aboard the JOIDES Resolution.

As the Marine Curatorial Specialist, Paula is in charge of collecting, handling, sampling, storing, and shipping all cores aboard the ship. Her job requires an extensive background in geology. Paula’s background in geology also provides her with the necessary chemistry and mathematical skills to perform her job. Besides her science skills, Paula must also use her communication skills to coordinate the requests of scientists from many different countries with the drilling crew and lab technicians. In a way, Paula is also a teacher; she is in charge of instructing people who are new to the ship on correct sampling methods.

Paula believes that an education in the geological sciences prepares people for job opportunities in many different fields. There are many new, exciting, and challenging opportunities opening up every year.

Besides her love for geology, Paula is also an artist and brings the two fields together in her pottery studio. When Paula isn’t aboard ship she likes to be at home working in the studio and spending time with her husband Bubba and their children.

Staff Name: Paula Weiss

Majors: Geology, Paleobotany

Education: Indiana University

Courses: Environmental Geology, Physical Geology, Paleontology, Optical Mineralogy & Petrography, Oceanography, Earth History

Experiences: Archaeological digs and geological field trips

IODP Experience: 25 years in DSDP, ODP and IODP

Interests: Rocks, minerals, geologic dating

Life Experience: Archaeological dig in PA/NJ, DSDP at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, New York

Interests: Art, pottery, cooking, spending time with family

Favorite Expedition Memory: Paula's met her husband Bubba on the ship

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