4. EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH

4.1 Overview

The Ridge 2000 Education and Public Outreach (EPO) program supports effective science education and literacy for diverse audiences. Since its inception in 2001, the EPO team has sought to build upon and complement existing outreach efforts of the community 1) by creating programs that multiple R2K researchers can contribute to without having to create and fund individual efforts and 2) by developing collaborations and partnerships with formal and informal education and outreach networks to leverage efforts and have a broader reach. Targeted audiences include K-12 students and educators, the public, and the broader academic and scientific communities. Specific goals include:

• Supporting effective K-12 science education for students and teachers in the classroom environment, helping increase student interest in the Earth sciences, and promoting scientific careers
• Collaborating with educational networks to incorporate deep-sea systems and processes and to develop a sustainable infrastructure for involving scientists in science education
• Promoting science literacy among citizens of all ages through meaningful informal education experiences intended to foster an appreciation for, and understanding of, scientific research and exploration
• Promoting R2K research and cutting-edge deep-sea science to attract potential scientists into R2K-related science and engineering careers
• Assisting R2K scientists in contributing meaningfully to science education and public outreach through the efficient and effective use of their time, resources, interests and expertise

Dedicated investment in R2K EPO efforts began in 2001 with a single full-time Education and Outreach Coordinator, Liz Goehring. Initial efforts included an Expert Educator Workshop, establishment of an EPO advisory committee, development of a strategic plan, coordination with existing offerings (e.g., the REVEL Teacher program, Volcanoes of the Deep Sea IMAX film, and Dive and Discover), grant-writing to fund R2K-specific EPO projects such as SEAS, and collaborations with the developing Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) network. Target audiences included K-12 students and teachers, members of the general public, and potential scientists and researchers not currently involved in R2K-funded research. From 2004-2006, Dr. Catherine Williams joined the R2K EPO team, at no cost to the Program, and contributed significantly to proposal writing and to the revamping of the R2K websites, including those targeting public audiences.

Upon relocation of the R2K Office from Penn State University (PSU) to SIO in 2005, the full-time position of EPO Coordination was divided to support two co-coordinators at 50% funding each, with the expectation that additional grants would fund both coordinators in full-time positions. Education outreach co-coordinator Liz Goehring remains based at PSU, focusing on K-12 outreach and has 50% funding through the FLEXE project (see below) through 2010. The other Education outreach co-coordinator, Eric Simms, works from the SIO office and focuses primarily on informal science education efforts, as well as contributing to FLEXE, with funding from multiple projects. Overall, sharing the R2K EPO position has resulted in two full-time coordinators without impacting the R2K program budget.

4.2 Range of Activities and Continued Growth

Since 2001, the R2K EPO program has made significant advances. Four major programs that have been developed are: a Distinguished Lecturer Series (DLS), Student Experiments at Sea (SEAS), VentureDeepOcean.org (VDO), and the most recent and expected to be farthest reaching, From Local to EXtreme Environments (FLEXE). EPO also comprises a number of other projects, some of which are described below along with more detail on the four major programs.

The R2K Distinguished Lecturer Series (DLS) sponsors lectures by R2K scientists to academic institutions throughout the U.S., primarily targeting undergraduate and graduate students at institutions lacking marine science programs, as well as general public audiences. The DLS has featured 20 leading ridge scientists at over 80 institutions since its inception in 2003 and has received very positive feedback. To increase the program's impact, the EPO recently revised its marketing strategy to include informal science education centers (science centers, aquaria, museums) as eligible host venues for program speakers, added an "Emerging Voices" speaker to appeal to younger audiences, targeted institutions serving underrepresented populations in science, and streamlined its application process by making it on-line. Lecturers' travel is funded through R2K Program Office funds and host institutions cover all other expenses.

The Student Experiments at Sea (SEAS) program, developed in 2003, was designed to provide middle and high school students with the opportunity to engage in authentic scientific investigations and to feature the deep-sea environment as a hook to engage learners. SEAS was developed as a result of educational needs identified at an early R2K Expert Educator's Workshop, and was designed to complement existing programs such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Dive and Discover. SEAS featured extensive curricular materials on hydrothermal vent systems and scientific inquiry, a student proposal competition, a website featuring R2K research at sea, a Classroom to Sea Lab, and a student report competition. As an R2K EPO program, SEAS also tested the idea of community-wide outreach that multiple R2K scientists could contribute to, thereby providing efficient and effective EPO opportunities for scientists' Broader Impacts plans. As of 2006, 25 R2K scientists from 18 institutions contributed to SEAS in a variety of roles including curriculum design/review, student proposal and report reviewers, and cruise hosts. As of 2007, 65 teachers and approximately 7800 students participated in some component of the program. SEAS continued through early 2007, at which time core elements of the program became integrated into the new FLEXE project. SEAS was funded through two OCE supplements totaling approximately $162,000.

The R2K education project, From Local to EXtreme Environments (FLEXE), was selected by NSF in 2006 as one of four major (~$1 M) projects to bring cutting-edge Earth System Science Programs and research to the international GLOBE education program. Building on the success of prior programs such as SEAS and Dive and Discover, FLEXE employs innovative education approaches and features R2K research and scientists to engage learners and promote science literacy among grade 6-12 students worldwide. The project is a 4-yr collaboration between the R2K community, science education researchers at PSU, and GLOBE (www.globe.gov). The GLOBE network includes partners, country coordinators, trainers, and teachers in 109 countries, and has been implemented in over 17,000 schools involving 31,000 teachers and over one million students worldwide. FLEXE creates a variety of roles for R2K scientists interested in contributing to science education and is a significant accomplishment towards the goal of maximizing exposure of R2K education efforts through strategic partnerships and networks.

Targeting public audiences, VentureDeepOcean (VDO) is an R2K web portal designed to bring the excitement of R2K research and information to non-scientific audiences. Originally developed in 2004 as the "SouthPacificOdyssey" website to feature research cruises to the Lau Basin, the audience and aims for the site were reexamined and the site was redesigned to serve beyond the cruise period. Since then, VDO has functioned as a successful public information portal for ocean ridge research, logging over 167,000 visitors since 2005. The VDO website provides quick access to selected R2K science and serves as an efficient option for outreach associated with R2K grants.

Informal Science Centers. R2K researchers have a successful history of working with informal science centers to develop deep-sea exhibits for large audiences. Examples include the Black Smoker in the Hall of Planet Earth in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and the Seafloor Science exhibit at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point, CA). Additional efforts in this arena include collaborations with the Birch Aquarium at Scripps and the California Science Center, where R2K EPO members are aiding development of deep-sea mid-ocean ridge exhibit components. Such efforts provide excellent opportunities to share the excitement, process, and results of R2K research with large cross-sections of the public — the California Science Center alone hosts nearly 1.5 million diverse visitors a year.

Image Bank. Imagery of the deep-sea environment is one of the most effective education and outreach resources available to our community. An effort is currently underway to develop an Image Bank for R2K, in conjunction with the Marine Geoscience Data System group at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory. This resource will serve to meet the publishing and research needs of both the scientific and education/public outreach (EPO) communities, and be accessible via advanced and basic online search functions. The Image Bank will include images, video, photomosaics and illustrations that represent the "best of the best" imagery from all facets of the program. The image bank is anticipated to be available in early 2008, and will be linked to the VentureDeepOcean and R2K web sites to regularly populate a "featured images" section.

A special issue of Currents, The Journal of Marine Education featured the R2K research program and key associated education programs. Titled 'Deep Hydrothermal Vents' (April 2004), the issue was co-edited and co-funded by R2K EPO and the University of Washington's REVEL Teacher-at-Sea programs.

MATE ROV Competition. The R2K office is supporting the Marine Advanced Technology and Education (MATE) Center to accommodate the three-day Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition scheduled for late June 2008 at the University of California-San Diego. The competition encourages students to apply science, technology, engineering, and math skills to build functional ROVs and solve problems based on real-world situations from the marine technical workplace. The 2008 competition will involve over 400 students in grades 6-16 from across the country and around the world as they address challenges inherent to exploring hydrothermal vent settings.

R2K scientists and EPO staff contributed to the production and dissemination of two feature length IMAX films — Volcanoes of the Deep Sea (2003), and Aliens of the Deep (2005) — both of which generated much public exposure about mid-ocean ridge research. R2K helped host screenings of both films at AGU, as well as helping to identify R2K scientists interested in serving as panelists at public film openings for the Aliens of the Deep film.