UDMessenger

Volume 12, Number 4, 2004


Breathe easy on this undersea expedition

Each year since 2000, thousands of elementary and secondary school students around the world dive into marine research by sharing in a deep-sea expedition led by UD scientists.

Through the use of an interactive, multimedia web site developed by the College of Marine Studies, students and other members of the public are able to virtually participate in a voyage that takes place each fall. From their classrooms, students can read logs and view photos and videos detailing the crew's activities each day, as well as e-mailing their questions to the scientists, who reply from on board the 274-foot research vessel Atlantis. Selected classrooms also take part in telephone conference calls with the researchers working live aboard the small submersible Alvin, which makes daily dives from the larger vessel to the seafloor.

In addition to the web site, teachers have the opportunity to use printed curricula, a video documentary and evaluation materials provided by the college to supplement the experience.

"This project is about getting students excited about science," Craig Cary, UD associate professor of marine biology and chief scientist on the expedition, says. "We want to introduce students to one of the most fascinating habitats on the planet and engage them in the thrill of discovery."

The most recent expedition, titled "Extreme 2003: To the Depths of Discovery," took place over 23 days and studied 2-mile-deep hydrothermal vents and the creatures that inhabit the scalding water around those vents on the Pacific Ocean floor. The geyser-like vents continuously spew hot, mineral-rich water and help support a diverse community of organisms.

More than 45,000 students from nearly 600 schools worldwide participated in the expedition, making "Extreme 2003" the largest program to date. The students represented 49 states, as well as the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Uzbekistan.

The 2003 expedition began when the Atlantis left Manzanillo, Mexico, for its dive site atop the Pacific's Ring of Fire. Cary focused his research on the Pompeii worm, a creature that he and his colleagues investigated during a 1998 expedition, when they confirmed that it is the planet's most heat-tolerant animal.

During the most recent expedition, Cary's research was funded through the National Science Foundation's biocomplexity initiative and involved chemists, geochemists and microbiologists. They studied the worm's ability to live with one end in very hot water and the other in very cold water, focusing their research on the genes expressed in the creature's head and tail.

Additional funding for "Extreme 2003" came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sea Grant Program, the Public Broadcasting System's WHYY-TV12 and the University.

In 2001, the expedition researchers worked with Amersham Biosciences to conduct the first DNA sequencing experiments ever carried out while at sea. They were able to sequence almost 2 million base pairs of DNA from different microbes and organisms that live in and around the hydrothermal vents. That expedition drew 13,000 virtual participants from more than 180 schools in the United States and abroad.

Over the years, the researchers interacting electronically with students have fielded a wide range of questions, which are posted on the expedition web sites.

They've addressed such topics as what the Alvin is made of (a thick titanium shell), how organisms survive the extreme temperatures of deep-sea hydrothermal vents (that's what the researchers are trying to learn), what causes bioluminescence in some organisms (a type of protein that glows), how crew members in the small submersible go to the bathroom (hospital-type bottles and a privacy screen) and how the Alvin is able to dive to the same spot each time (a sophisticated navigation system).

Plans are under way for "Extreme 2004" in the fall. For updates about this, including how teachers can get their classes involved, visit the web site [http://www.ocean.udel.edu/expeditions].