In fall 2006 and again in spring 2007, two groups of students and teachers from Perkins School toured WHOI. The visits included tours of the WHOI Exhibit Center, research ships Knorr and Oceanus, and WHOI coastal vessel Tioga.
Manager of Internal Communications, Stephanie Murphy, Exhibit Center Manager Kathy Patterson, and volunteer docents accompanied the group, aiding visually-challenged students to move around WHOI and on the ships, and explaining what they were touching. Students were able to handle many of the tactile exhibits illustrating ocean topics at the exhibit center, including models of the AUV ABE and the ROV Jason. They held biological exhibits such as whale baleen and living intertidal animals from the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Marine Resources Center, including starfish, mussels, and tunicates.
Aboard Oceanus, the students toured the labs, berths, galley, and Pilot House with physical oceanographer Amy Bower and volunteer Hovey Clifford. The group then visited Knorr to learn where some of Dr. Bower’s instruments and equipment would be used during her cruise to the Labrador Sea in September 2007. Dr. Bower will travel north aboard Knorr to put in place a mooring with instruments to gather information about warm water currents in the cold Labrador Sea.
