The Cascadia Initiative is an onshore-offshore seismic and geodetic experiment, using an underwater array of seismometers to measure the deformation of the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates. The seismometers, located off the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington and Vancouver Island, need to be recovered and deployed every year in order to collect the data they contain.

Since 2011, Bill Hanshumaker, Oregon Sea Grant’s marine public educator at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center in Newport, OR, has participated in the annual cruises as a means of bringing the experience of at-sea ocean research to classrooms on the shore.

For 2014, Dr. Hanshumaker is planning live Skype-to-shore sessions with selected science classrooms – if satellite Internet connections permit.

Learn more about the Cascadia Initiative from their Website.