Cambridge Science Festival – Ocean Chemistry Virtual Reality Cruise

Date: Sunday, September 29, 2024 Time: 12:00 - 4:00pm Location: Kendall/MIT Open Space | 292 Main Street, Cambridge, MA
Categories: Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate | Events + Outreach | Geology, Geochemistry, and Geobiology

Become a “GEOTRACES scientist for a day” including shipboard interviews with scientists, 360° videos, short games, and other material suitable for the general public.

We will present a 3D Virtual Reality (Meta Quest 2) simulation of a real-life chemical oceanography scientific research cruise from Tahiti to Chile on the Research Vessel Roger Revelle! The VR modules were created by Chrissy Wiederwohl (Texas A&M University) and a graduate student while working aboard the original 2018 sampling cruise.

This material is also available to showcase at K-12 schools, libraries/museums, and festivals and adult services centers.

ABOUT THE ORGANIZER

Ed Boyle is an MIT Professor of Marine Geochemistry of 47 years who has been involved in the International GEOTRACES project for the past two decades. GEOTRACES determines ocean distributions of trace elements and their isotopes that play key roles in phytoplankton nutrition, and serve as tracers of ocean circulation, indicators of anthropogenic pollution, and tools to study past ocean climates. Boyle’s research is focused on transport of anthropogenic lead through the ocean using its isotope ratios as indicators of sources. He also studies other chemical elements in the oceans and has used fossil shells from oceanic sediments to study ice age oceanography.