Greetings! My name is Susan Klinkhammer, and I am a 5th grade teacher at Lincoln School in Corvallis, Oregon. My husband, my two college-aged children, and I all enjoy traveling and experiencing new areas and meeting new people. As a result of our love of exploring and my husband's career as a scientist, I have had the chance to teach in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Oregon, and also in Great Britain!

As teachers we have a vital role to help transmit to students the joy of learning and adventure. It is this belief that has kept me striving to learn and grow as a teacher as well as a person. I am fortunate to be able to work with many students who quest after knowledge and opportunities to learn and challenge themselves.

From mid-April to mid-May in 1999 I was able to parcticipate in a research expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard the RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer. This parcticular research group was exploring an area called Bransfield Strait for hydrothermal activity. What a wonderful expedition of discovery this was for me as well as my students and their families. Through the Internet we were able to stay connected via my web page (http://zora.oce.orst.edu/antarctica/index.html). Truly a virtual field trip to Antarctica! I am honored and thrilled to join the TEA program and have this opportunity to join a scientific expedition to the Arctic. What will it be like doing science aboard the new Coast Guard ice breaker HEALY? What sights will we see? What discoveries will be made? Please come along on our adventure north to the Arctic. I'll do my best to send you both great pictures to look at as well as letters explaining what we're doing. Don't hesitate to send e-mail! We'll be sure to answer!

Sea Ice Trials aboard the U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker Healy
Dr. Kelly Falkner, Oregon State University

I am going to spend two weeks in the Arctic on board the U.S. Coast Guard ice breaker Healy with my teacher colleague, Janice Rosenberg, and a group of scientists. Janice and I are very lucky to be able to collaborate on this project and to have the opportunity to ride aboard the Healy on its maiden voyage to the ice. The Healy is a brand new ship, and it is the only ice breaker in the United States that will be dedicated to doing scientific research in the Arctic

Janice and I will be working with scientists who are interested in learning more about the ICE AND believe that there are amazing secrets frozen in this ice. These secrets MAY give us clues about the earth's climate, and how it changes. The scientists are also interested in what the bottom of the ocean looks like. You might think of the ocean floor as being flat like a pancake, but it isn't. There are mountains and valleys and even active volcanoes, just as there are on land. Using new and modern technology, they'll be able to more accurately map the ocean floor and see the landforms hidden beneath the ice!

We will also be helping scientists measure the speed of the ocean currents using sonar, collect seawater for testing, and examine large drift nets towed behind the ship to see what kind of zooplankton and phytoplankton exist in these waters. Even though these plants and animals are very tiny, they are the basis for life in the ocean. While at sea we'll hopefully see a lot of larger wildlife, too. We might see whales, walruses, and even polar bears!

We invite you to join us on this amazing scientific adventure. We'll write to you in our journal from the field every day telling you what we saw and did. You can write back to us with questions. Even though communications onboard an ice breaker in the Arctic Ocean can be a little dicey, we hope you give it a try. If we can't answer your e-mails while we're at sea, we promise to write back once we're back on land.

So fasten your lifejackets and join us on this Arctic adventure!