Like time capsules buried deep beneath the ocean floor, ancient sediment and rock include fossilized remains of plants and animals that lived tens of millions of years ago.

To extract this geological history, scientists use huge, oceangoing investigation vessels to drill core samples, giving a glimpse into the Earth’s improvement.

The Joides Resolution (JR) is a seagoing investigation vessel that drills core samples and collects measurements from beneath the ocean floor.

Illinois State University sophomore geology big Ruby Garey was one particular of 15 undergraduate students from across the nation chosen to reside, find out, and function aboard such a vessel, the Joides Resolution (JR), on a ten-day voyage in February from Heraklion, Greece, to Tarragona, Spain. In the course of her journey across the Mediterranean Sea as a member of the JR Academy, Garey was immersed in scientific ocean drilling and the geoscience careers it entails.

“It was an remarkable practical experience,” Garey mentioned. Every single morning she set an early alarm to watch the sun rise across the JR’s stern. Just after breakfast, she and her academy colleagues engaged in classes presented by instructors from the International Ocean Discovery System, NASA, Texas A&ampM University, Columbia University, and the University of California Museum of Paleontology.

Lectures about the Mediterranean had been sometimes interrupted by sea life sightings—in the Mediterranean.

“You would appear out the window and see a pod of dolphins,” Garey mentioned. “Then, absolutely everyone would rush more than to see them. We got to see a lot of marine life—like dolphins, a bioluminescent jellyfish, a swordfish, and at one particular point, I even saw a sea gull on a sea turtle floating by way of the ocean.”

Ruby Garey analyzes a core sample drilled from beneath the Mediterranean Sea floor.

Garey and her colleagues also worked in the JR’s big onboard laboratory, alongside JR geoscientists and technicians. Wearing gloves and security glasses, they reduce and analyzed core samples extracted by the vessel’s 62-meter-tall derrick equipped with a drilling string capable of reaching six miles beneath the ocean’s surface.

“That was the coolest thing—all of the hands-on stuff that I did in the lab, from seeking at and sorting out these nano fossils by way of a microscope to just figuring out exactly where I wanted to take a core sample and take some of the sediment from that sample and analyze it,” Garey mentioned. “That unquestionably solidified a profession in geology for me.”

Members of the JR Academy watched the sun set every single evening on their voyage from Greece to Spain.

Core samples from the Mediterranean give proof that the sea was as soon as a desert, about five and a half million years ago. By studying core samples, scientists observe what organisms lived on our planet—and what sorts of climates they lived in—at diverse occasions all through the Earth’s history.

“It’s essential for understanding how our planet operates,” Garey mentioned. “It’s acquiring out, ‘What was the atmosphere and the climate like at the time of these samples?’ It is understanding how our planet is and how we got to this point in time.”

In the evening, Garey and her colleagues pushed by way of a robust headwind to the front of the JR’s deck exactly where they watched the sun set across the vessel’s bow into the glistening Mediterranean Sea ahead. At evening, prior to bed, they watched the stars overhead.

“I like to say that Orion and the Small Dipper (constellations) had been my mates the complete time,” Garey mentioned. “They had been so crystal clear.”

Just after disembarking the JR, Garey and her academy colleagues spent the remaining days of their trip exploring Spain.

“The meals in Spain was scrumptious, and I definitely bonded with everyone on the trip,” Garey mentioned. “We had been all on this practical experience with each other, and it was exciting becoming capable to practical experience a new nation that we had all in no way been to.”

The JR Academy consisted of 15 undergraduate students from across the nation, such as sophomore geology big Ruby Garey.

Garey has due to the fact returned to campus exactly where she has reunited with her neighborhood of Illinois State geology and earth sciences students who “feel like family members.”

“We get to have these wonderful experiences and do a lot of field function,” Garey mentioned. She added that she is grateful to Dr. Tenley Banik, an associate professor in the Division of Geography, Geology, and the Atmosphere, for encouraging her to apply for the National Science Foundation-funded JR Academy.

“As a sophomore, I in no way believed that I’d get that chance,” Garey mentioned. “But, I was capable to go on the trip and get that practical experience.”

Garey, who could see herself pursuing a profession in hydrogeology, mentioned she is eager to return to the field.

“Through our system, we get to travel and get these experiences,” Garey mentioned. “It’s what drew me into geology. It is my way to go. It is my future.”