Cold United

Ella Darlington. Working on the back deck this afternoon...

What a fantastic message I received yesterday… from Ella Darlington, Education and Outreach Officer of Education Through Expeditions NGO, who is currently working on the RRS James Cook scientific ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, nearing the equator. At present most of her work is aimed at tropical and ocean environments.

So… let’s begin our story.

A few months ago I started following UK-based Polar explorer Anthony Jinman‘s activity. I found all his works to be extremely exciting and helpful. It was him, who started the non-profit Education Through Expedition project. Just recently he launched the ETElive.org outreach platform designed to help educators and explorers to cover their current expeditions.

A week ago Anthony Jinman invited me through facebook to join the event called Ask Ella a Question. The first reaction was like, “Who is Ella and why should I ask her questions?”

The answer was, “I’m Eleanor, or Ella, Darlington. I’m here documenting life at sea onboard the RSS James Cook in the form of photos, videos and this blog, for Plymouth Marine Laboratories. ‘An easy job’ I hear you say. Well that’s not all… I’m also here working for a not-for-profit organisation called Education Through Expeditions (www.etelive.org), who are also based in Plymouth. This is the trickier part of my job – Education and Outreach – making science fun and applicable in the classroom. I am able to answer questions for the next 6 weeks… If any of you out there are teachers, or have kids in schools, or know of young people in youth groups etc. who would be interested in following and getting involved then please pass on the information. I’m discovering that it really is a two-way project!”

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