When three women have a passion for creative science education, and the unforgettable experience of sailing on the same research vessel JOIDES Resolution, an Open Educational Resource (OER) about the history and discoveries of scientific ocean drilling is made. Meet the three authors, Laura Guertin, Elizabeth Doyle, and Tessa Peixoto, who were former Onboard Outreach Officers that sailed on JOIDES Resolution between 2022 and 2024.

Credit: Tomoaki Morishita & IODP, MerlinOne photo archive, CC BY 4.0

The catalyst for such a project was the fact that the most recent iteration of the NSF funded scientific ocean drilling program dubbed International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) was not granted funding renewal in 2023. The scientific ocean drilling vessel operated by the United States was scheduled to end its operations with IODP in 2024. As former Outreach Officers aboard the JOIDES Resolution, we saw firsthand the incredible work done at sea.

Shining a spotlight on Scientific Ocean Drilling

When Laura invited Tessa and Beth to team up on creating this OER, our mission became clear: we wanted to build an educational medium that not only tells the story of ocean floor sampling but also shines a spotlight on the amazing vessels that made it all possible.

Catalano et al. (2023) pointed out a real gap in available OER oceanography textbooks—there just aren’t many that cover the history and process of conducting science at sea. That’s where our OER comes in! We’re putting the spotlight on scientific ocean drilling, showing how it’s played a key role in shaping our understanding of everything from plate tectonics to past climates (Becker et al., 2019).

To make sure it’s accessible to as many people as possible, we’re hosting the OER on the Pressbooks platform, so anyone, whether you’re a student, an educator, or just someone curious about the science behind ocean drilling, can dive right into the material. The first few chapters are already up and ready to be explored, and we’re working hard to add more throughout 2025. Check it out here: https://psu.pb.unizin.org/sciod/.

Fun fact: Laura, Beth, and Tessa had all communicated with each other in the past relating to JOIDES Resolution as they have all sailed on the ship, but they had never worked together on any project before (in fact, the three of us still have yet to meet in person!). It would have finally happened during the 2024 AGU Fall Meeting, but unfortunately Tessa tested positive for covid the night before her flight.

The Women Writing This Textbook

WHO IS LAURA GUERTIN

Laura’s love for geology and oceanography led her to pursue degrees in these fields, and she’s since built a career blending teaching and marine geology. Since starting her faculty position at PennState Brandywine, she found a way to balance her teaching responsibilities with her passions of being a marine geologist. Fortunately, there were short-term opportunities to sail on research expeditions as an educator, and she pursued these through NOAA and on JOIDES Resolution. Upon her return she has found many ways to help people learn about conducting science at sea via different projects like quilting, and being a part of networking groups like SWMS.

WHO IS TESSA PEIXOTO

Throughout Tessa’s professional career, sharing what she learned with others was where she felt the most excitement and connection, which is what led her to one day googling a bunch of different science communication keywords to search for what kinds of opportunities existed. One of those searches took her to the landing page of the JOIDES Resolution blog, where there was an advertisement to sail as an onboard outreach officer. She is thankful to her digital research methods class for giving her the skills to succeed in this project!

WHO IS ELIZABETH DOYLE

Elizabeth teaches geology at Northern Virginia Community College and Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. She attributes the start of her adventures with JOIDES Resolution to the fact that she was cold emailed by another outreach officer inviting her and her classes to join them for a virtual tour of the vessel. The outreach officer and a fellow two-year college geology professor, Laura Guertin, encouraged Beth to apply for the role herself. And the rest is history!

Skills That Shaped the Pages

Know how you are going to say it: Although Laura had never formally written a textbook before, she credits two key skill sets and experiences that have been invaluable in completing this project. First, her extensive experience in science communication and formal education at the college level have really helped her learn how to frame her messages in any project (audio stories, blog posts, presentations) for the correct audience. This was critical as she worked with Tessa and Beth to clearly define their primary audience as undergraduate students that are non-STEM majors, most likely enrolled in an introductory-level oceanography course (they could also be enrolled in a history of science course). She also credits her partnership with the library at Penn State Brandywine. She collaborates with one of the librarians to teach students information literacy skills, which have thus improved her own skills in finding reliable, credible sources to include in the OER.

Keep showing up: Beyond writing, Tessa identified that consistency is key for her as she worked to contribute to this textbook. This project from inception to its current build spans a full year, and coming back to the same project without losing sight of the vision on a daily basis is a challenge she welcomes. It brings a lot of learning regarding using the website platform, editing, the grant writing process, using educational pedagogy, and more. Plus, having the opportunity to collaborate with Beth and Laura provides a great foundation for accountability (she is thankful for the frequent check-ins on each other's capacity).

Don’t get in your own head, you got this: After several years of creatively finding ways to prevent her students’ eyes from glazing over as she taught classes, she found that when writing the textbook with Tessa and Laura, it was a similar skill as the team deliberately included exercises that were student centered. Beyond designing science activities, writing a textbook is a big task and Beth has worked to approach it calmly. As she gets started on her tasks for the week, she leaves the overthinking side of her brain at the door (sometimes verbally saying “Do not overthink this!”). She ensures to remember that the first attempt of any project is always just a draft, and multiple rounds of revision is expected. One factor she has appreciated about the project being an eBook is that there is the flexibility to check how each of your edits affect the product as a final copy due to the preview function on the pressbooks platform.

In Conclusion: Sparking Curiosity and Discovery

Through reading science biographies, memoirs, expedition reports, and blog posts, as well as interviewing ship personnel, Tessa, Beth and Laura have gained a real appreciation for the human story behind the science. Discoveries require patience and grit—often in the face of low odds and sometimes even personal risk. If there’s an overall moral of the story to writing this textbook it is that science communication serves as a way to forge a connection between science and the people who made it possible, using their stories to build science literacy.

Curious what Tessa, Beth, and Laura have produced? We invite you to explore the OER and share it with your students, colleagues or friends. We would love to hear from you if you have feedback about the OER or share with us if you have a story about your own experience with scientific ocean drilling!

You Can Take The Outreach Officer Off The Ship, But We Won’t Stop the Engagement: How Three Outreach Officers Came Together to Write a Textbook