The JOIDES Resolution

The JOIDES Resolution is one of the world’s most important scientific research ships. Kevin has had the opportunity to be at sea three times on this ship, including eight weeks as the Educator at Sea during an expedition to explore a chain of volcanoes off the coast of New Zealand. He has written two children’s picture books, a graphic novel and a series of blog posts to introduce kids and adults to the science and adventure of the JOIDES Resolution. All of them are available for free! You can learn more about each of them below.

What is the JOIDES Resolution?

The JOIDES Resolution (the JR) is the United States’ only research vessel dedicated to scientific ocean drilling. For over forty years, the JR (and its predecessor the R/V Glomar Challenge), have carried international teams of scientists around the world on expeditions to collect rock and sediment samples from the sea floor. The ship collects these samples by sending a drill down through waters as deep as 23,000 feet and then drilling as deep as 6,500 feet deep into the seafloor! 

The JR is not only a drill ship. It is also a floating laboratory with scientific instruments that can match the top universities in the country. Scientists studying ocean floor samples on the JR have greatly expanded our knowledge of the Earth, on topics such as volcanoes, the extinction of the dinosaurs, climate change, plate tectonics and much more. You can learn more about the ship and its latest expeditions by visiting joidesresolution.org.

Visit here to take a 360 virtual tour of the JOIDES Resolution.

Kevin’s experiences on the JOIDES Resolution

Kevin has been lucky enough to be on the JOIDES Resolution three times. Twice he was on the ship as a participant in the School of Rock program, which allowed educators to go out to sea on the ship to learn about the research and technology of the JR through immersive experiences. During his first School of Rock, Kevin was able to sail on the ship on a transit from San Diego, California to Victoria, British Columbia. During his second School of Rock, Kevin and illustrator Alice Feagan sailed from Curacao to Bermuda, and went straight through the Bermuda Triangle! 

Kevin was also onboard the JOIDES Resolution for eight weeks during a research expedition in the South Pacific. The ship drilled thousands of feet below the sea surface to bring up rock samples from a chain of volcanoes called the Louisville Seamount Trail. The scientists then studied the samples to better understand how hotspots form volcanoes on the ocean floor. Kevin's job during the expedition was to create a variety of educational materials for the JOIDES Resolution website to teach kids and adults about the expedition. To learn more about this expedition, visit here. 

Cool Stuff for Kids (and Adults) about the JR

Kevin has created or helped create a variety of free resources about the JOIDES Resolution, including children's books, blogs, comics, and videos.

Children's Books

Uncovering Earth's Secrets is a free eBook about the JOIDES Resolution for kids age 6 to 12. Readers are introduced to the ship and some of the amazing discoveries scientists onboard it have made. The book is written in rhyming verse and beautifully illustrated by Alice Feagan. The eBook was created through a National Science Foundation grant and can be downloaded in both a PDF and interactive iBooks version for iPads and Macs here.

Where Wild Microbes Grow is a free eBook for kids age 6 to 12 about the cutting edge science of seafloor microbes that the JOIDES Resolution is playing a significant role in discovering. Like Uncovering Earth's Secrets, the book is written in rhyming verse and beautifully illustrated by Alice Feagan. The eBook was created through a National Science Foundation grant and can be downloaded for free in both a PDF and interactive  iBook version for iPads and Macs here.

Comics

Kevin was the main writer of the graphic novel “In Search of Ancient Lava Flows” about the story and science of the Louisville Seamount Trail expedition. Scientist Carl Brenner then took Kevin’s script and photographs from the expedition to create episode 6 of the graphic novel series Tales of the Resolution. The series is aimed at 10 to 14-year olds and is available to download for free here.

Videos

Kevin collaborated with videographer Lisa Strong to create this video where Kevin ruins a cake to explains how and why the JOIDES Resolution drills the seafloor. You can see other videos about the JOIDES Resolution here