Symons challenges students to go deeper DEEPSEA CHALLENGE Expedition science coordinator
shares experiences at sea
by Chris Posey Hundreds of students from Houston area high schools filed into the George Bush Grand Ballroom of the George R. Brown Convention Center on 25 September. These students were treated to rare video footage of James Cameron. No, the footage was not for a new movie that was being produced by Cameron. Indeed, the footage starred Cameron in a solo production as he journeyed to the deepest known point of the Earth's seabed hydrosphere in a marine transport whose pilot hatch was essentially a ball that was only 43 inches in diameter. This footage was provided by Dr. Christina Massell Symons, a participant in the expedition and keynote speaker for the Applied Science Education Program that was held in conjunction with SEG's 83rd Annual Meeting and International Exposition in Houston, Texas. Wulf Massell, Applied Science Education Program Chairman and Principal Geophysicist at Cray, Inc., introduced Symons by sharing an anecdote about Symons' childhood in which she, at the age of two, fell into a swimming pool while riding her tricycle. Massell noted that Symons was discovered and rescued immediately, but when she was discovered, she was found still pedaling at the bottom of the pool – a picture of Symons' determination (and perhaps her love for underwater submersibles) that would later lead her into a successful career as a geoscientist and lecturer. Symons spent an hour graciously sharing with a full ballroom of students her many stories and insights gleaned from research conducted during her nearly 200 days at sea (plus two days below sea level) – journeys that contributed significantly to her prolific mapping of the seafloor along the rim of the Pacific Ocean Basin. More recently, Symons was a member of the science team on DEEPSEA CHALLENGE, James Cameron's record-breaking solo dive to the deepest known point in the ocean, the Challenger Deep. "Almost 90% of the earth is left to explore," said Symons as she explained the irresistible pull she felt that lead her to a career in seafloor exploration. "It's an exciting time." Of course, exploration ran in Symons' family and was a natural part of her life from a young age. Her father, a geophysicist, spent time exploring in Antarctica, and her mother logged time flying over rainforest canopy. Symons currently spends most of her research time in the Pacific. She focuses on biodiversity, and she spends much of her time determining how undersea trenches contribute to seismic activity such as tsunamis and earthquakes. The fruits of her research include the discovery of over 100 new species – discoveries that have been extrapolated into modern pharmaceutical applications. Symons noted in her presentation that, in addition to terrestrial and marine applications, deep sea research has even contributed to the study of Jupiter's moon, Europa. Scientists are hopeful that exploration in extreme environments (such as Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench) will aid in planetary research and will eventually help point to clear signs of life on other planets and their moons. Following Symons' presentation, students broke into groups and conducted some exploration of their own – a tour of the SEG Exposition Floor. The goal: to connect Symons' pursuits to companies that conduct similar research or provide related services. Students then proceeded again to the ballroom where they participated in a series of practical, applied science activities that were organized by Rob Stewart, geophysics professor and Director of the Allied Geophysical Lab at the University of Houston. The Applied Science Education Program, now in its 11th year, serves to promote the continued study of the geosciences among secondary school learners. The program has reached thousands of high school students since it began in 2003. | 
