AN OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE (OER) TO ADVANCE THE STORY OF SCIENTIFIC OCEAN DRILLING

Since the 1960’s, the United States has led the field of scientific ocean drilling. From the first attempt to sample the Earth’s mantle (Project Mohole) with CUSS 1 to the present day, scientists from the U.S. and around the world have participated in expeditions that collect deep-sea material by drilling through sediment and ocean crust. These expeditions have been made possible by advanced drilling technologies and dynamic positioning systems on ships such as Glomar Challenger (1968-1983), JOIDES Resolution (the JR), Chikyū, and mission-specific platforms (MSPs). Through these efforts, scientists have significantly advanced our understanding of plate tectonics, climate change, natural hazards, and more. However, in 2024, the current International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) will conclude along with the U.S. management of the JR. This will not only hinder the ability to conduct deep-sea drilling to further understand the ocean’s role in Earth systems, but it will also negatively impact the development of the scientific workforce involved in ocean drilling. Additionally, mentions of these drill ships and the process of conducting science at sea are already decreasing in higher education materials, such as introductory oceanography textbooks. To ensure that students can continue to learn about the history of scientific ocean drilling, from the methods to the discoveries, a team of three former Onboard Outreach Officers that sailed on the JR are authoring an open educational resource (OER). This resource, complete with multimedia material, interactive exercises, and discussion questions, will enable students to engage with this important topic freely and without barriers. Instructors can incorporate as much or as little of the OER into their courses, allowing students to learn about onboard ship technology, core measurements and analyses, and ongoing research on archive core material. This OER can be accessed at: https://psu.pb.unizin.org/sciod/