Time Scavengers is collaborating with the International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 390/393 to showcase the scientists recovering sediment and rock cores, and conducting science at sea! Click here to learn more about IODP, and visit the Research Vessel JOIDES Resolution website here to read more about the drillship. To learn more about IODP Expeditions 390 and 393, click here!
You can follow the JOIDES Resolution on Twitter @TheJR, on Facebook @joidesresolution, and on Instagram @joides_resolution!
I am a marine geophysicist that studies crustal structure. I use techniques that allow us to image the subsurface to study topics such as how ocean crust is formed or what an impact crater looks like in three dimensions. My favorite instruments are ocean bottom seismometers – we drop these off the side of a ship and they record sound waves that travel through the earth. Later we send a signal to each instrument and it lifts off the seafloor for recovery.
I was part of a team that acquired site survey data in the South Atlantic for IODP expeditions 390 and 393. These data allowed us to choose the best sites to recover both sediments and basement rocks. It is very exciting to see the drill cores from the sites we picked! The cores provide the ground-truth that allows us to better interpret our geophysical data over the South Atlantic region.
A previous project I was involved in was studying the Chicxulub impact crater which formed 66 million years ago when a meteorite struck at the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico; effects from the impact led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. When I first started out as a research scientist I was part of a team that acquired geophysical data over the Chicxulub structure and confirmed that it was an impact crater. More recently I was in the scientific party that drilled into the structure and recovered rocks from the impact crater!
Growing up I was always interested in science but didn’t know much about earth science. In high school I received information about applying for a scholarship to study geophysics – which I learned was studying the physics of the earth. Once I took my first geophysics course and discovered plate tectonics I was hooked! After graduate school I became a research scientist at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) where I worked for almost 28 years. I recently took a position as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation in the marine geology and geophysics program. I now get to manage the review process for proposals to conduct cool science all over the world’s oceans!
My biggest hobby is soccer. I love going to see Austin’s new soccer team Austin FC, and my favorite way to spend a Saturday morning is to grab a breakfast taco and watch Premier League soccer matches. I also enjoy reading science fiction and fantasy and watching movies.
Gail is currently a Program Director at the National Science Foundation in the Division of Ocean Sciences; she is also a Research Affiliate at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics. You can follow Gail on Twitter @glchristeson.