Hi, young explorers! My name is Sara, and I'm so excited to be launching this virtual exchange with you! I'm a science writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia. Last year, I saw a job posting to go to sea and share stories about scientists doing research on a ship. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to go! I've been dreaming about the ocean and reading books about adventures at sea since I was your age.
A few days ago I flew from my home to Tarragona, Spain, which is near Barcelona on the Mediterranean Coast. Can you find Tarragona on a map? This is where I will soon be boarding the JOIDES Resolution, our ship for this expedition. The JOIDES Resolution is a really special ship. It has a big drill to get samples from the ocean floor for the scientists to study. Up to 110 people live on it at a time, and they work around the clock during two-month-long missions.
Our mission with this expedition is really cool... we are going to study underwater volcanos! When we leave Spain, the JOIDES Resolution will travel across the Mediterranean Sea to the Greek island of Santorini. Once we get to Santorini, we’ll spend most of the trip anchored at specific points around Santorini and little islands near it that the scientists on board want to study.
