We had another great Science Odyssey week May 12 – 18, 2018. Over 300 visitors participated in our afternoon events.
We started the week with a look into what makes volcanoes work, why and when they erupt explosively, and how volcanologists use volcanic rocks to understand the subsurface magma factories that ultimately cause volcanoes to erupt. Next, we heard 3 exhilarating public talks by UBC Scientists! Prof. Catherine Johnson told us how planetary scientists measure the pulse, temperature and reflexes of a planet. Join us to hear all about NASA’s InSight mission to Mars! https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/; Prof. Stephanie Waterman showed us how oceanographers use ocean drones to autonomously explore and monitor the ocean—tracking life and quantifying how the ocean moves and mixes; and Prof. Mark Jellinek explained how colliding continents, erupting volcanoes and Snowball Earth conspired to turn worms into humans! The last part of the week took us on a journey through rock, mineral, and fossil identification tools and tricks as well as a walking tour of the beautiful stone slabs located on the exterior of the Earth Sciences Building. On this tour, we explored different rock types, Earth’s rock cycle, and discussed how geologists use clues from the rock record to understand Earth’s past.
What an excellent week celebrating Earth science!