SEA voyage with NASA scientist featured in New York Times
February 11, 2019
SEA in the NEWS
A Young Island on Earth May Reveal Clues to How Water Shaped Mars
By Niraj Chokshi
The New York Times
Four years ago, an underwater volcano erupted in the South Pacific, creating a new island. And NASA took notice.
The island’s evolution could hold clues to how water might have shaped similar features on Mars billions of years ago, NASA officials believed, so the space agency began collecting satellite photos to track how the elements were carving and clawing away at the land.
The images yielded insights into how the island was eroding, but the story they told was limited. NASA could wring more information from those photographs with measurements taken from the ground, but James Garvin, the chief scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., could not justify the cost of sending a team. Then an opportunity presented itself.
The Sea Education Association, a study abroad program, was planning to take a group of college students and faculty and staff members to the island, and NASA was welcome to hitch a ride.
Contact: Douglas Karlson, Director of Communications | 508-444-1918 | dkarlson@sea.edu | www.sea.edu
Share This Story
Recent News
Sea Education Association Appoints Dr. John Wigglesworth President
Veteran Educator, Mariner, and SEA Alumnus Takes Helm Woods Hole, MA – Jan. 12, 2023 – Sea Education Association (SEA) has [...]
SEA’s Dr. Kara Lavender Law Shares Insights on Ocean Plastic Pollution
SEA Research Professor of Oceanography Kara Lavender Law shares insights on ocean plastic pollution in two recently published news articles. Plastics [...]
Students Conduct Field Research on Health of Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are vital ocean ecosystems, yet they face many threats caused by human excess. This fall, students enrolled in Caribbean [...]
Students Sail South Pacific to Study Island Cultures, Ecosystems, and Environmental Issues
This fall, a select group of college students is sailing the South Pacific aboard the tall ship ocean research vessel SSV [...]
John Wigglesworth, W-5, Returns to SEA as Interim President
John “Wiggs” Wigglesworth, W-5, has returned to SEA to serve as interim president for a brief period until the presidential search [...]
With Newly Published Research, SEA’s Dr. Jeff Schell Seeks to Unlock Mysteries of Vital North Atlantic Ecosystem
By Douglas Karlson With co-authors and former SEA faculty members Deborah Goodwin and Amy Siuda, SEA Professor of Oceanography and Henry [...]
