Will Sager may have become a marine geophysicist by chance, but it is no accident that he is also an educator. He shares his passion for understanding the Earth with students at all levels and he recognizes the value of educating teachers and decision-makers. Most recently—in summer 2007—he partnered with JOI Learning to use his research expedition to Ninetyeast Ridge, aboard the R/V Roger Revelle, to teach students and educators about the seafloor and how the Earth works. He invited an educator to join the expedition and to develop an interactive website (www.joilearning.org/sea90e), where those interested were able follow the cruise and learn about relevant scientific issues.

Always a Scientist
Will remembers always wanting to be a research scientist. While majoring in physics at Duke University, an introductory geology course first turned his interests towards earth science. He studied geophysics for his MS and Ph.D., attending the University of Hawaii where—in the middle of the Pacific Ocean—he soon became an oceanographer as well. Of his first research cruise in August 1977, he recalls, “We were just picking up ocean bottom seismometers, but I got a taste of exploring the ocean bottom with physics and I was hooked.”  

The study of plate tectonics is Will’s first love but he often “follows his nose” to new projects. His other research interests include marine geophysics, high-resolution geophysical seafloor mapping, paleomagnetism, gravity and magnetic field interpretation, and the geomagnetic polarity reversal time scale.  He is currently a professor at Texas A&M University (TAMU) where he holds the Jane and R. Ken Williams '45 Chair in Ocean Drilling Science, Technology, and Education. He has sailed on 38 major research cruises, including two expeditions with the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) and five with the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)—two as Co-Chief scientist (Legs 143 and 191). He sailed on the first ODP leg (101) and realized that scientific ocean drilling allowed him to do interesting research that was otherwise inaccessible. In particular, he can obtain on board the samples necessary for using paleomagnetism as a tool to investigate the motion of oceanic plates, such as the Pacific.  

Will’s Ninetyeast Ridge site survey expedition (Sea90E), which was funded by the National Science Foundation, stemmed from his long-term interest in hotspots. The project evolved because of increasing questions during the last few years about the hotspot model. Several conferences inspired him to pursue drilling additional hotspot seamount chains with the intent to examine the global array of hotspots.  

“I love the fact that something we took for granted (i.e., how hotspots work) has been questioned and I may be able to make a significant contribution to understanding a fundamental Earth process,” he says. “I don't really care whether hotspots are plumes or whether we end up throwing out the old ideas. It is the chase for knowledge that keeps me going.”

Life Ashore
Away from his work, Will occasionally plays the ukulele (which he taught himself to play while living in Texas). He sometimes even pulls out his telescope to look at the stars—getting to view the south circumpolar constellations is one benefit of research expeditions in the southern hemisphere! Someday he may even find enough time to paint landscapes in acrylic or to write things other than research papers and proposals. These days he spends most of his free time following his twelve-year-old son, Gabriel, to baseball practice and serving as the tournament team’s scorekeeper and statistician.

The seeds for Will’s interest in education were sown when he was a little older than his son is now. While attending high school in Winchester, Virginia, he had three great science teachers. They fueled his interest in science and also became his role models as educators. At TAMU, he currently enjoys mentoring graduate students and teaching both graduate courses and introductory oceanography.

“I love to talk to people about nature and to replace students' ignorance of the Earth with a picture of how it works. It makes me feel like I have a useful mission,” he says.

Making the Connection
The Sea90E education program represents the crossroads of Will’s interest in education and his involvement with scientific ocean drilling. He knew there would be a hiatus in IODP—because the U.S. scientific ocean drilling vessel was being overhauled—and he was aware of JOI Learning’s interest in helping scientists share their work with education audiences. He saw his site survey expedition’s potential and took the initiative to act.

He contacted Leslie Peart, JOI’s Director of Education, to suggest an educational experiment that has since become a reality.  

“We were spending a lot money doing this far-flung expedition and our job was something really cool that could be inspiring to school kids,” he says. Leslie ran with the idea, making arrangements for a website and running an application process that resulted in the selection of middle school teacher, Rory Wilson from Meeker, Colorado. “It's nice to have somebody around who sees everything fresh, from an outsider's perspective and can help translate our science into something a kid can dig into.”