Day 4 (18th of June) - Invitation

Dear fellow teachers,

We have finally begun our journey on the Marion Dufresne! We are all excited and looking forward to this experience of a lifetime. We are five secondary (high school) science teachers from five different countries: Jean Aufauvre (France), Gertrud Cigén (Norway), Catalina Sureda (Spain), Hélder Pereira (Portugal), and Angela Skeeles-Worley (United States).

The Marion Dufresne departed from the port in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on June 15, 2008. Hélder experienced temperatures around 37ºC (105ºF) in Sevilla after traveling by bus from Loulé, Portugal. This was Angela?s first trip to Europe, and the only time Gertrud will visit the beach this year. Our stay in Las Palmas was exciting not only because it marked the beginning of our journey, but also because it marked the beginning of new professional relationships and friendships. After leaving the Port in Las Palmas, which we enjoyed for an extra day, we had to adjust to life on board.

Climate change is an immediate global concern. It is difficult to understand the possible consequences of climate change without studying the conditions of previous warming periods (known as interglacial periods). The purpose of the AMOCINT (Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during Interglacials) project is to better understand conditions during past interglacial periods through the sampling of sea floor sediments. This will be further explored in future emails!

While we are here we will participate fully in a collaborative research endeavor, and work with scientists, graduate students, and crew members. We would like to share with you the goals and results of the scientific research, the methods employed, and the experience of life on a research vessel.

We invite you to join us on the Marion Dufresne by emailing us with any questions you may have in any of the languages that are being used onboard (English, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Catalan, Italian, Norwegian, German, Ukrainian and even Malagasy). We also hope you will be able to use this information to bring this experience back to your students.

Teachers at Sea
Core-Education Team
Hélder Pereira, Jean Aufauvre, Angela Skeeles-Worley, Gertrud Cigén, Catalina Sureda and Carlo Laj