As part of our expedition, Jamie Menzies (Educator on Board) and Sam Brear (Onshore Educator) have designed some learning activities based around the ship and the research we were doing. Here are the first few, designed by Sam:   How do you navigate at sea? Bearings! (KS3 Maths) Bearings and Navigation – Maths – Lesson […]

As we approach the midway point of our scientific voyage, the RV Investigator has made it to the northernmost extent of the Tasmantid Seamount Chain (view our live position here).  At the time of writing, we’ve sampled 23 locations at 8 volcanic seamounts. Some sampling efforts produced lots of different types of interesting rocks, and some […]

Did you know there are active volcanoes on mainland Australia? In addition to the two underwater seamount chains being mapped by the RV Investigator, there is a chain of volcanoes running the length of the Australian east coast that formed at the same time. Prior to the voyage, two of our team members spent three […]

Find below some information to help you prepare for a  live video link with Jamie Menzies, Educator on Board the RV Investigator.  1. Science topic To help us prepare for your session, please email jamie.menzies@investigator.csiro.au with information about the topics you are working on in school. Learning about volcanoes? We can run a session with some […]

Four scientists are representing the University of Edinburgh on the RV Investigator voyage to the Coral Sea. From left to right they are: Name: Dr Ben Cohen Role: Geology shift leader Research interests: I’ve been studying Australia’s (extinct) volcanoes, both onshore and offshore, since 2002 (how time flies!). My main speciality is finding out when these volcanoes […]

At 0700 AEST we set sail on the RV Investigator for the start of our 28 day voyage in the Coral Sea hoping to sample some exciting rocks from the extinct underwater volcanoes of the Tasmantid chain.  

Preparations are underway for the R/V Investigator voyage this August with our team having all completed their Sea Survival Training with SALT in Edinburgh. The course covered a number of emergencies any typical vessel may encounter whilst out at sea including collisions, fires, water ingress, foundering, man overboard and medical emergencies. All participants were given […]

Australia’s R/V Investigator, the ship being used for the research. Image credit: CSIRO Thanks to everyone for their interest – this placement has now been filled. Dr. Lara Kalnins’ group at the School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh has an opportunity for an education professional in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics to participate in a […]

Extinct underwater volcanoes in the Tasman Sea off Australia. Image credit: Lara Kalnins In August 2019, we will spend 28 days on Australia’s research vessel, the R/V Investigator, studying two chains of extinct submarine volcanoes in the Tasman and Coral Seas off the east coast of Australia. The primary goal of the voyage, led by […]