Years ago, Dana Clark scribbled “Alaska” onto her bucket list. Now, she gets to cross it off in a way she never could have imagined.
Clark set sail this week on the Fairweather as a member of a scientific research team tasked with mapping the ocean floor off the coast of Alaska. Even a tsunami warning for the coast of Alaska on Monday didn’t stop the departure.
“Alaska is always changing and moving with the glaciers, earthquakes and volcanic activity. I love the dynamics of it,” Clark said.
Clark, a middle school science teacher at the all-girls Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, traveled to Alaska as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Teacher at Sea Program. She is joining 55 NOAA scientists and crew members to help study the area from the Kodiak Island to Seward, Alaska.
This isn’t her first science expedition. Clark was selected by Travelocity Travel for Good to do research in the Amazon rainforest with Peruvian biologists. She also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with a group of scientists and traveled to Trinidad to study sea turtles.
Her goal is to go on an adventure once a year. “They help with my professional development, and they really resonate with my students. The girls went crazy when they saw pictures of the baby sea turtles,” she said.
The expeditions have all involved a competitive application process. Clark was one of 28 teachers selected for a sea-floor mapping mission. The NOAA Teacher at Sea program began in 1990 and has sent over 600 teachers on expeditions.
“The program provides teachers with the opportunity to work side-by-side with NOAA scientists,” said Jennifer Hammond, the program director. “The ocean floor changes constantly so we need to keep making new charts and getting up-to-date information.”
Clark said mapping the sea floor around Alaska is an important safety precaution for fishermen and travelers.
She said the ocean there has not been mapped for 100 years, so no one knows how deep it is. Her job will involve using sonar down into the ocean and from ship to shore, as well as using tide markers and other ocean experiments.
Clark will share her expedition in a blog on teacheratsea.noaa.gov. Her posts will include information about the science she is doing, pictures of various activities and interviews with other scientists on the ship.
“I’m blogging for my students,” Clark said. “I want them to see and learn the science, and I want to introduce them to science careers.”
Clark teaches sixth- and eighth-grade science at the Dallas ISD school, which emphasizes math, science and technology. She sees this expedition as a good source of information for her students.
Hammond agrees. “We hope that the teachers will bring knowledge back to their classroom and bring excitement back to their students,” she said. “Dana Clark teaches young women, and right now there is a gap in women in the sciences that NOAA would like to help fill.”
Clark hopes to introduce her students to the world of marine biology — a rare opportunity in Dallas — and encourage them to pursue any form of science.
“It’s inspiring to my students, I’ve been told, when I am able to show them what they can do with science in the real world,” Clark said. “Students tell me, ‘I’ve never enjoyed science before. I never knew that I could do it. And now I know that I can. I know it’s real and it’s around me every day.’ Getting that feedback is really exciting.”
To read Clark’s blog, go to teacheratsea.noaa.gov and select “Dana Clark” under the “Current Season” tab. To track the Fairweather’s course at sea, go to shiptracker.noaa.gov/Home/Map.