A Step Beyond
Exploring physical oceanography through dance

Today I had the opportunity to participate in an unusual class setting: At A Step Beyond in Escondido, CA, I talked to 5th and 6th graders about some of the observational methods we use in physical oceanography. In between the lessons, the students, together with their dance teacher Roxanne Rojas de Blanco, came up with dance moves to transform what they had just learned into a choreography. With a lot of creative energy the students danced ships in stormy seas and subsurface moorings knocked over by strong currents. Many thanks to Roxanne and my colleague Larry Pratt from WHOI for organizing this workshop and to the National Science Foundation for financial support through our Samoan Passage research project!

Hydraulic Processes in the Samoan Passage
NSF-funded project to study hydraulic processes in the abyssal flow through the Samoan Passage
Project 2012Samoan Passage Abyssal Mixing Experiment
NSF-funded project to study volume transport and mixing processes in the abyssal flow through the Samoan Passage