In this Communicating Research to Public Audiences (CRPA) project, the University of Washington and the Pacific Science Center (PSC) are highlighting the results of Dr. Kelley's active research discoveries about deep-sea life located on active hydrothermal vents of the ocean floors (OCE-0426109). The STEM content of this project includes oceanography, marine biology, and ecology. The project team will develop a multimedia, interactive kiosk exhibit that builds on the existing Portal to the Public project at PSC. Kelley's graduate students are actively involved in the exhibit and outreach components.
The target audience for "Life in Extreme Environments" is the approximately 800,000 U.S. and international visitors to PSC, including a significant number of urban, underserved minorities. This CRPA project will become a component of the existing Portal to the Public exhibit. This exhibit kiosk will subsequently be made available to other scientists to promote research and related topics in their respective disciplines. The exhibit will be fabricated and evaluated by PSC staff.
The "Portal to Current Research - Life in Extreme Environments" project resulted in the design, fabrication and implementation of an exhibit highlighting the importance of seagoing research and the discovery process, specifically focused on the dynamic deep-sea vent environment. This exhibit, a collaborative effort between the University of Washington and the Pacific Science Center, included an 11-foot across video wall, which can be triggered for key topics, showing stunning imagery of hydrothermal black smokers, vent animal communities, and personnel impressions of sea-going work. The other four walls are focused on key questions about how hydrothermal vents work, life in extreme environments, UW scientists who work in these environments, and the technologies used to explore submarine volcanoes and the deep-sea. In total, the portal included stunning still images that showcased black smoker chimneys and vibrant animal communities at hydrothermal vents, an ~4 foot tall black smoker chimney, preserved tube worm casings, and glassy lava from the Juan de Fuca Ridge as well as an in situ microbial incubator that had been deployed within the walls of an active chimney to examine the upper temperature limits of life on Earth. The exhibit also included is a SeaPerch mini robotic vehicle with text that guided visitors to the outside pools where they could operate the mini ROV’s. Squished sytrofoam heads and cups emphasized the impact of pressure at seafloor conditions and the adaptive capabilities of animals that thrive in the oasis’s of vent systems. During interactive periods with UW researchers and visitors, visitors could race to put on survival suits - critical to survival in the waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Video cliplets include impressions of UW students conducting hands-on research at sea (www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/enlighten/file/Student+Stories), shrinking heads and cups (www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/enlighten/file/Head+Shrinkers+), and discussions about new technologies to explore and investigate the deep ocean. In August 2011, live video was streamed directly into the exhibit from >300 miles offshore from a robotic vehicle 5000 feet beneath the oceans surface (www.interactiveoceans.washington.edu/visions11) during the NSF and UW funded Univeristy of Washington VISIONS11 Expedition as part of the Ocean Observatories Initiative. The imagery included first-ever live views of incredible microbial blooms issuing directly out of a 4-month old underwater eruption on Axial Seamount. During a dedicated 3-hr period, visitors at the Pacific Science Center talked directly to scientist on the UW research ship the R/V Thompson operating at Axial Volcano, asked questions and discussed what they were seeing live at the center.
