Posts by Katherine Joyce

Day 2: Conducting research at sea always requires extensive advance planning. Researchers essentially take their labs from buildings on land and set them up on a ship that rolls with the waves.

Day 1: After three years of planning, two weeks of quarantine, four days of mobilization, and countless hours of preparation, we are finally, finally on our way.

The Brothers volcano expedition has hoisted Jason out of the water and is bound for Auckland. As we did, a sense of relief settled in among both the science and the Jason teams.

Each day I stand outside, look over the water and think to myself: Wow, I am so grateful to be part of this expedition—and isn’t it crazy to know that there is a big active volcano beneath my feet? Yes, it is. It is even more than that. It is so fascinating!

A potentially serious setback is facing the Brothers volcano team with the disappearance of the elevator, a device that is used to transport equipment to the seafloor.

You wouldn’t think that a lot could be learned by sending a bunch of motorcycle inner tubes down to the seafloor, but you’d be wrong.

It’s the little things that count. Just ask Anna-Louise Reysenbach. Dr. Reysenbach is the Chief scientist of the Brothers volcano expedition, and her specialty is microbes, particularly the infinitesimally small creatures that occupy some of the most punishing environments on earth.

After nearly five days in Auckland, the Brothers volcano team is finally back at sea. A powerful storm and power problems brought us into port, where we caught up on work and had a chance to see some of the city’s sights. Weather can always be an issue on these trips, and it felt like we’d lost a precious few days. But now it’s time to hunker down and get some science done.

We are on our way back to a location over Brothers volcano to resume our exploration of hydrothermal vents inside the caldera. While we head back to sea, get a look inside our home away from home during Dive & Discover Expedition 16: the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson.