Kimberly Williams, teacher-at-sea, composing her first daily log entry. She is a science teacher at Miller Place High School in Long Island, New York. Kimberly will be acting as the liaison between scientists on the NeMO expedition and the public.

I am a science teacher from Miller Place High School on Long Island, New York. You know, teacher, as in classroom, high school students, desks. . . You know, New York, as in Statue of Liberty, big city by the Atlantic Ocean. So what am I doing 300 miles off America's West Coast in the Pacific Ocean? No classroom, no high school students, no desks, no Statue of Liberty, no big city and definitely no Atlantic Ocean! I ask myself this as we lose sight of land and I am flooded with emotions. I feel excitement over being able to spend the next 23 days with some of the brightest hydrothermal vent researchers in the world . . . amazement that these 34 individuals whose fields are so multidisciplinary will be expected to work together like a well oiled machine . . . curiosity as I gaze through room after room of electronics, gizmos and gadgets that have been tucked into every nook and cranny behind walls that are emblazoned with the slogan "Clean and Safe Science" . . . empathy for those among the group who don't have their "sea legs" yet and are feeling queasy. . . fear that the whole research cruise will be this full of motion (and horror that it may actually get a lot worse). Foremost among this tremendous flood of emotions I feel as we leave port is honor that I was chosen to represent my profession as a liaison between the scientists on this ship and the public.

When I began the application process for this Teacher-At-Sea-Program, I needed to go beyond what I was able to learn from my basic marine science textbooks. I became "submerged" in learning about the science that will occur while we are out to sea and continue long after we return to shore. The amazing set of events that led up to this particular research cruise has been described in detail, along with the group's latest scientific discoveries on the Ocean Explorer and NeMO websites. Unlike many scientific expeditions, where scientists go out to sea, do their research, collect some data and come home to tell about it, this project is so fascinating because it has a dramatic history and an exciting future. The history behind the first part of this research cruise began in the early 1990's when NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Lab began using the U.S. Navy's undersea hydrophone system (a la "Hunt for Red October") to detect deep-sea eruptions in the Northeast Pacific. Anticipating that a major eruption was likely to occur at Axial Volcano, the NeMO program began in 1996-1997. Several arrays of instruments were in place by late 1997. Nature cooperated in a grand way when the summit of a volcano erupted in January 1998, leading to the bonanza of new information that has been culled during the subsequent NeMO cruises. This eruption inspired a multi-year study that enters its 5th year with this summer's cruise. Using the latest deep-sea technology, scientists will set up a station that will enable them to monitor changes in volcanic activity over time. However, the excitement won't end when the last piece of equipment is deployed over the side of the ship. Scientists will be adding new components to the observatory that allow them move beyond annual time series measurements. Over the last few years, they have been developing a two-way communication system (called NeMO Net) that links instruments on the seafloor with computers on shore. This interactive capability will provide them with a unique opportunity to better interpret and respond quickly to future activity at the site.

Student's Question of the Day:

Sam Ferguson, Age 4, Baldwin, NY asks:
How does equipment get loaded onto the ship?

It depends on the weight of the item that needs to be loaded. For example, ROPOS is 18,000 lbs, the NeMO Net system buoy is 3,200 lbs, and the ROPOS winch is 95,000 lbs-too much for you to carry! These need to be hoisted aboard with a giant crane on the dock. Smaller equipment like computers, tools and spare parts can be loaded with a smaller crane on the aft (back) deck of the ship. This crane is great for equipment that is lighter than 20,000 pounds but would still hurt your back if you had to lift it. Even smaller equipment is loaded on the strong backs of graduate students and walked across a temporary bridge that leads from the dock to the ship. This bridge is known as the "gang plank".