I spent my last hour aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson very much the same as I did when I started: On the bridge watching the the NOAA Corp Officers maneuver the ship around the pier.
NOAA corp officers working together to dock the ship
As my time aboard the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson comes to an end, I find myself looking out over the Great Lakes one last time, reflecting on an incredible two weeks at sea. I’ve enjoyed so much of what I’ve experienced and I’ve learned even more. Over the past two weeks, I have had the privilege of stepping into the daily workflows of many of the departments that keep this floating laboratory operational.
In hydrographic surveying and science, I learned about the how the survey team operates the multibeam and side-scan SONAR, tracks lakebed topography, deploys the Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) to measure sound speed through water columns, and processes bathymetry data to identify navigational hazards. Up on the bridge and aboard survey launches, I observed the seamless coordination of the NOAA Corps officers as they safely navigated tight survey grids and executed precision small boat operations. Down in the engine room and ship’s workshop, I saw firsthand how engineers and oilers maintain complex mechanical systems, monitor power generation, and custom-fabricate hardware to support the ship’s operations. Meanwhile in the galley, I learned what it takes for the steward department to feed the entire crew.
Above all, I experienced a culture of trust where every voice matters. Everyone continuously strives to do better, whether mastering ship and small boat handling or expanding their scientific knowledge.
Personal Log
With the start of the school year starting tomorrow, my excitement is shifting from the open water back to my physics classroom. I cannot wait to meet my new students and introduce them to everything I’ve learned during this journey.
So much of what happens aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson is physics in action—from sound propagation in water and wave mechanics to vector navigation, data processing, and engineering design. Being able to bring real-world NOAA data, live video clips, and genuine stories of STEM careers into our lessons will give our coursework a direct line to the real world.
More than the technical concepts, I am eager to model the collaborative, trust-based environment I witnessed onboard. I want my students to see that asking questions, checking each other’s work, and learning from mistakes aren’t just classroom goals—they are the exact habits practiced daily by professional scientists and mariners at sea.
This expedition through the NOAA Teacher at Sea Program has been an unforgettable experience. To the officers, survey technicians, engineers, and crew of the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson: thank you for welcoming me into your community, answering my endless questions, and showing me what true teamwork looks like.
The sunset on my last evening aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
Did You Know?
Late one night during our mission, I stayed awake to witness a near-total lunar eclipse—when the Earth moves directly between the Sun and the Moon. From my vantage point, as well as back home, the eclipse reached about 96% coverage. For nearly two hours leading up to peak coverage, we found ourselves dodging the only rain cloud in the sky, though I still managed to capture photos at the start and just after maximum coverage.
At the very beginning of the lunar eclipse at about 10:30 p.m.
Today, I had the incredible experience of going out on one of the survey launches with Hydrographic Survey Tech Haley Kenyon and Ensign James Hutzenbiler to run side-scan sonar. We rely on these smaller boats particularly when the water becomes too shallow for NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson to maneuver safely or when we are working in areas where the depths are completely unknown.
Aboard the small boat and ready for the day!
Once underway, Ensign Hutzenbiler and Haley navigated our assigned lines with incredible efficiency.
ENS Hutzenbiler drives the launch
When we ran into an issue with our POS (Position and Orientation System) data, Haley had Ensign Hutzenbiler hold position while she stepped out to secure an antenna connection with electrical tape.
Survey Tech Haley Kenyon secures the antenna
When the glitch popped up again later, a full system reboot got us back online for the rest of the day. The ingenuity, calm troubleshooting, and seamless teamwork on that small launch were inspiring—and together, they logged over 70 nautical miles of high-quality bathymetric data.
software displaying survey lines
View of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson from the launch vessel as we return to the ship
Personal Log
Before we even stepped foot on the launch, we went through a comprehensive risk assessment using a GAR (Green-Amber-Red) model.
The colors represent our overall risk score:
Green (0–23): Low risk; proceed with standard precautions.
Amber (24–44): Moderate risk; requires consultation with the Executive Officer (XO) and crew to implement specific risk mitigations.
Red (45-60): High risk; the launch does not deploy unless risks can be successfully mitigated to lower the score.
Float Plan, including the GAR risk assessment, for launch vessel 2904
The GAR sheet is led by the coxswain—the officer in charge of the vessel—but it is a collaborative discussion. Once our mission for the day is outlined, the entire crew reviews every safety factor together.
The pre-launch small boat meeting
For my trip, the lake was calm and the mission was straightforward. I bumped our “Mission Complexity” score up slightly because it was my first time on the launch, meaning the team had to account for extra safety oversight for a newcomer. When weather conditions worsen—like on a day another crew faced choppy waters—the risk may elevate to Amber. If the risk does rise to Amber, they thoroughly map out contingency plans—including designated safe-harbor ports along their route if conditions deteriorate. Thanks to that preparation, everyone is able to execute their missions and return safely. What impressed me most about the GAR process is its culture of open safety. If anyone—regardless of rank, role, or whether they are actually going on the boat—feels a risk factor is underestimated, they have the authority to raise the score. Crucially, a score can never be voted down by someone else; it can only be raised. Knowing that safety is actively evaluated from every angle made me feel completely confident heading out on the water.
That culture of psychological safety, open communication, and continuous learning is something I am eager to bring back to my physics classroom. My students spend a lot of time collaborating in lab teams, and I want to find a way to create an environment where every student feels just as empowered to speak up—whether it’s pointing out a safety oversight or double-checking a peer’s lab setup or providing feedback on solving a problem. I already model this by encouraging students to call out my own errors, but seeing how seamlessly the crew on Thomas Jefferson prioritizes collective growth has me reflecting on how I can cultivate that same deep trust in my classroom right from the start of the school year.
Did You Know?
Port is the left side of a ship or boat while starboard is the right side when facing the front (bow) of the ship as shown in the image below:
The port side of the boat is named so because that is the side of the boat that was traditionally tied up to the dock or port, opposite to the steering or steer board, “starboard.” https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/port-starboard.html.
One of the crewmembers told me that to remember port and starboard to always remember that port has four letters in it and so does left, so they are on the same side of the boat.
A NOAA research vessel is a 24-hour operation. The crew works 12-hour shifts that can start at any part of the day or night and in the rain or shine, pitch black or full daylight.
My day began in the quiet dark at 5:00 a.m. with Ensigns Connor Harrell and Julian Santos as they prepped one of the ship’s small survey boats. Before heading out on the water, thoroughness is everything. They meticulously inspected the engine compartment, checked the water and oil lines, verified the batteries, and—equally crucial for a long shift—packed their sandwich ingredients for the day.
Ensigns Harrell and Santos inspecting the small boat they would later take out
Sunrise over Lake Ontario after inspecting the small boats
By 6:00 a.m., the entire crew gathered for the daily safety meeting to review small boat operations, including resolving past mechanical issues and flagging things to watch. We discussed both small boats on Thomas Jefferson: one had just received a new alternator, while the other developed a persistent clicking sound. The cause? It requires a specialized lubricant that isn’t currently stocked on the Thomas Jefferson. A temporary alternative lubricant is keeping things safe and operational in the meantime, even if the click remains for now.
By 6:20 a.m., it was time to launch. Watching the coordination required to launch both small boats was incredible—it took less than five minutes per boat. I watched my roommate, Hydrographic Survey Tech Haley Kenyon, balance on the moving small boat, calmly releasing heavy lines, relying entirely on her upper body strength and footwork before stepping back inside.
Deploying Boat 2904
Small Boat 2904 after being deployed into the water
These small boats serve as essential advance scouts for the Thomas Jefferson, especially when surveying specialized areas like designated dumping grounds. Using side-scan sonar, they map the seabed and detect potential hazards in shallow or tricky waters, ensuring our main vessel can later navigate safely to conduct high-resolution multibeam survey scans without risking the ship’s hull. Deploying the small boats also speeds up data collection significantly—with Thomas Jefferson and two small boats working simultaneously, we can map vast stretches of the lakebed in a fraction of the time.
Of course, science at sea always comes with unexpected variables. Boat 2903—the one with the brand-new alternator—ran into electrical trouble mid-morning and had to be recovered early. While Boat 2904 pressed on with its mission, the crew was understandably frustrated. But on a research ship, equipment problems are simply part of the job, and it was necessary to bring the boat in for further inspection.
Meanwhile, aboard Thomas Jefferson, we were running our own multibeam scans. The multibeam and sidescan systems integrate positional data from a variety of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) including GPS, European Galileo satellites, and other available orbital networks with depth soundings.
Survey Tech Josh Gautier collecting hydrographic survey data for NOAA ship Thomas Jefferson
To turn sound waves into precise depth measurements, however, you need to know the speed of sound in water, which changes constantly based on temperature and salinity. To capture these variables, a Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP) is deployed. Towed behind the ship, the MVP measures salinity and temperature profiles through the water column. The survey techs aboard NOAA ship Thomas Jefferson launch it roughly every hour, or whenever we transit to a new area, allowing us to continuously calibrate our sonar equations against local water conditions.
Hydrographic Senior Survey Tech Ali DiTommaso preparing to launch the MVP
At 4:00 p.m., Boat 2904 returned to the ship. We wrapped up the afternoon with our daily debrief—a chance for both the small-boat teams and the shipboard crew to compare notes, troubleshoot the day’s electrical snags, and refine our approach for tomorrow before heading off to dinner.
Personal Log
Living quarters on a working ship must make use of every usable square inch. I share a room with Haley Kenyon, one of our fantastic survey technicians (and one of the people who went out on the small boat from the morning’s launch video).
Stateroom with two berths
Our room is surprisingly spacious with plenty of storage. Haley is a permanent staffer, so she’s aboard Thomas Jefferson long term, while I’m settling in for my two-week adventure. We each have space in the dresser and closets, and I have the bottom bunk. While the porthole offers a fantastic view of the lake, my lower berth keeps the early morning light out of my eyes.
The view from the porthole in my room
Our room connects to the adjacent stateroom via a shared Jack-and-Jill bathroom with a toilet and shower. It’s compact, but totally functional. Both connecting doors lock securely from the inside—though there’s always a slight paranoia about accidentally locking yourself out. Conveniently, our sink and mirror are located right inside our bathroom in our bedroom, making it super easy to brush teeth and wash up even if the bathroom is occupied.
The view of our bathroom from the bedroom
Did You Know?
Dessert is a mandatory shipboard requirement.
On NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, official protocol dictates that the crew must be served a dessert at both lunch and dinner. We are extraordinarily lucky because our Chief Steward, Danni Cuff, is a pastry chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America.
Needless to say, the food aboard is great. So far, my scientific duties have been complimented by an impressive rotation of scratch-made cakes, pies, and warm cookies.
One of the pies available to the crew on Thomas Jefferson
Before stepping aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson, I assumed most of the crew would be scientists. While hydrography is certainly at the heart of the mission, I learned that it takes professionals from many different career fields to keep the ship operating safely and efficiently. In fact, many of the jobs on board connect directly to the career pathways offered where I teach, Pickaway-Ross Career & Technology Center.
PRCTC’s list of programs (Credit: PRCTC)
The survey technicians are responsible for collecting and processing hydrographic data using multibeam sonar, side-scan sonar, GPS, and specialized computer software. Their work combines engineering technology, robotics, and cyber security & networking.
The deck department operates cranes and davits, launches and recovers the survey boats, performs maintenance, handles lines during docking, and ensures the safe operation of the vessel. These careers require technical skills, teamwork, problem-solving, and attention to safety which are qualities developed through career and technical education programs. Especially since we train our students in Lean Six Sigma.
Bosun Alex Bischoff helping 2904 crew aboard
Behind the scenes, the engineering department keeps the ship running 24 hours a day. Engineers maintain the propulsion systems, generators, pumps, electrical systems, and countless pieces of equipment that allow the Thomas Jefferson to complete its mission. Students pursuing careers in diesel technology, industrial maintenance, electrical trades, or advanced manufacturing would recognize many of the same hands-on skills used every day aboard ship.
The bridge is staffed by NOAA Corps officers, who are responsible for safely navigating the ship, supervising survey operations, managing personnel, and making operational decisions. Their careers combine leadership with navigation, meteorology, technology, project management and safety. These officers work very similarly to the students in the Public Safety course at PRCTC.
Officers working the bridge on NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
Even the steward department plays a vital role. Preparing three meals a day for a crew working long hours requires planning, organization, food safety knowledge, inventory management, and culinary skills. The galley keeps morale high and ensures everyone has the energy needed to perform demanding work much like our commercial foods program.
The Thomas Jefferson also relies on electronics, communications, information technology, logistics, administration, and medical support. Every member of the crew contributes specialized skills that allow the ship to operate as a single, coordinated team.
One of the biggest takeaways from this experience is that there isn’t just one pathway to working aboard a ship like the Thomas Jefferson. Whether your interests are welding, diesel technology, engineering, information technology, culinary arts, electronics, leadership, or science, there is a place where those skills can make a difference.
As a teacher at Pickaway-Ross CTC, this experience has given me real-world examples to bring back to my classroom. Now I can point to an entire ship where technical skills, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication are used every single day. Career and technical education doesn’t just prepare students for jobs, it also prepares them for opportunities they may have never imagined, including serving aboard a NOAA hydrographic survey vessel.
Clearing the Way
While the NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson is best known for charting U.S. waters, the ship can also play a critical role in responding to natural disasters.
In 2017, after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Thomas Jefferson was deployed to help restore safe navigation to the region. Using its multibeam sonar and side-scan sonar systems, the crew surveyed ports and waterways to identify underwater hazards and ensure safe passage for the U.S. Coast Guard, relief vessels, and other emergency responders. Because so many essential supplies reach the islands through these ports, reopening them quickly was vital to the recovery effort.
Over the course of just three weeks, the Thomas Jefferson surveyed 13 areas, including more than 18 ports, helping authorities safely resume maritime traffic.
Areas surveyed by NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson after Huricane Maria in 2017 (Credit: NOAA)
One of the ship’s greatest strengths is its ability to operate independently. With a crew of 38, the Thomas Jefferson can remain at sea for several weeks without relying on outside support, making it an ideal platform for extended emergency response missions. Its two survey launches, 2903 and 2904, further enhance its capabilities by allowing crews to survey shallow waters and areas where storm debris may have accumulated.
Learning about the Thomas Jefferson‘s role after Hurricane Maria gave me a broader perspective on hydrography. Before this experience, I mainly associated nautical charting with supporting everyday navigation. Seeing how these same surveying skills and technologies can be used to assess storm damage, clear ports, and help restore critical shipping routes showed me just how important this work is. It is another example of how the crew’s expertise extends far beyond routine charting operations.
Personal Log
Unfortunately, I am on my way home. However, I want to share a few last memories from this experience.
The Crew’s Greatest Challenge
I had started to think the crew aboard the Thomas Jefferson was almost flawless, then game night happened.
Communication on the bridge during unfavorable conditions is exceptional. Navigating video games? Not so much.
Crew working on their communication skills during game night
The Commanding Officer remained calm, cool, and collected through two weeks of transiting the Welland Canal, changing weather, and demanding survey operations. Yet during game night, I caught a glimpse of what looked like a silent question in the CO’s eyes: “Is this really my crew?” as everyone demonstrated their less-than-stellar teamwork in a video game. I also learned that it is, in fact, possible to earn negative points.
The evening was filled with unforgettable comments like, “I have steak on the starboard quarter!” followed by, “Fish pasta, aye!” and “Who keeps putting the fire extinguisher on the stove?” Somehow, those made perfect sense in the middle of the chaos. And no game night would be complete without a few “passionate” debates over the official rules of Scrabble.
Crew demonstrating teamwork skills during game night
As entertaining as the games were, my favorite part was seeing this side of the crew. After watching them work with such precision and professionalism every day, it was refreshing to see the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer relax alongside everyone else. For a few hours, ranks took a back seat to friendly competition, laughter, and good-natured teasing. It was a wonderful reminder that the strong teamwork I had witnessed throughout the mission is built not only through hard work, but also through shared moments like these.
Crew of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson at game night
Sharing the Mission
An exciting part of my journey home was getting the chance to share my experience aboard the Thomas Jefferson with people I met along the way. My Uber driver and the hotel front desk attendant were both curious about why I had been on a NOAA ship, which gave me the opportunity to explain the mission of the Thomas Jefferson and the important work the crew does to create accurate nautical charts and ensure safe navigation. They both had said they had lived here all their lives and never saw a boat like that in the port or knew that the lake was not surveyed. After spending time with the crew, I found myself proudly talking about their work and the dedication it takes to accomplish such an important mission.
Mission Complete
I want to extend my sincere thanks to Commanding Officer Kidd and Executive Officer Duffy for welcoming me aboard and giving me the opportunity to be part of this incredible experience.
I also want to thank the entire crew for making me feel at home from day one. Everyone was so welcoming, patient, and willing to answer my endless questions. A special thank you goes to the survey technicians, who took the time to explain everything to me slowly and more than once when needed. Their patience and enthusiasm for their work made it easy to appreciate the science and technology behind every survey.
Chief Scientist Sarah Thompson explaining the Sea-Bird CTD proceedures
I also want to thank my roommate, Junior Officer Bridget Ruiz, for making life aboard so enjoyable. Thank you for your friendship, the great conversations, and for making me feel at home while we were at sea. Sharing this adventure with you made the experience even more memorable.
I feel incredibly fortunate to have been assigned to NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson. I have a much deeper appreciation for the important work this crew does. More importantly, I am returning home excited to share what I have learned with my students. I hope that through these stories, they will discover careers they may have never considered and see that science can lead to adventures far beyond the classroom.
Fair winds and following seas, Thomas Jefferson. Thank you for an unforgettable journey.
Out on boat 2904 with NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson in the background
One of the highlights of this leg was getting the opportunity to spend a day aboard survey launch 2904. Junior Officer Julian Santos served as our coxswain, while Senior Survey Technician Ali DiTommaso managed the survey equipment. It was a great opportunity to experience how NOAA conducts nearshore hydrographic surveys and to see firsthand the challenges of collecting data in shallow water.
Our mission for the day was to locate the 15-meter depth contour on our assigned survey sheet. Using the multibeam sonar, the display was configured so that anything shallower than 15 meters appeared black. As we “painted” the seafloor with the multibeam, we watched for that black boundary. Once we reached the 15-meter contour, we stopped collecting multibeam data in that area and moved on to find the next section of the contour. Eventually, we connected these sections to create a continuous 15-meter line across the sheet.
Multibeam data from boat 2904
After establishing the contour, we switched to side-scan sonar to survey the area shallower than 15 meters. Because side-scan sonar can cover a much wider swath of the seafloor than the multibeam, our survey lines were spaced farther apart, allowing us to efficiently search for underwater features and potential hazards. During our survey we operated the 75-meter side-scan system in water depths ranging from approximately 7 to 15 meters. We did not have the opportunity to switch to the 50-meter side-scan configuration, which is typically used in even shallower water, from about 4 to 8 meters.
Getting side-scan data from boat 2904
Working from a small survey launch requires constant multitasking. Since it was the weekend, recreational boat traffic was heavy, requiring extra vigilance while navigating and collecting data. Unlike aboard the ship, the launch crew must solve many equipment issues on their own or troubleshoot with assistance over the phone. At one point, our air conditioning stopped working. Although it certainly made for a warm day, it did not affect the safety of the operation, so we continued surveying.
Ali DiTommaso manning the survey station on boat 2904
Although the surveying stops when the launch returns to the ship, the work is far from over. Every evening, the survey data is processed so it can be evaluated before the next day’s operations. During this process, the survey technicians apply the sound velocity information collected from the Sea-Bird CTD casts. Because sound travels at different speeds depending on the water’s temperature, salinity, and pressure, these measurements are essential for accurately calculating the depth of the seafloor.
The data is also corrected using the vessel’s position, motion, and orientation throughout the survey. Every pitch, roll, heave, and heading change of the launch is accounted for so the seafloor is mapped in its true position rather than being distorted by the boat’s movement. Water level corrections are also applied to account for changes in lake level during the survey.
Processed data for the sheet that Boat 2904 has been working on
Once these corrections have been made, the software combines the overlapping survey lines and “smooths” the edges between them to create a continuous, high-quality map of the seafloor. Processing also helps identify any holidays, small gaps where little or no data was collected. If holidays or other data quality issues are found, the area will need to be resurveyed before the sheet can be considered complete.
Total amount of processed data for this leg of NOAA Thomas Jefferson
Personal Log
Coxswain Junior Officer Julian Santos, Senior Survey Technician Ali DiTommaso, and myself aboard boat 2904
Going out on a survey launch was one of the highlights of my time aboard NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson. I already love being out on the water, so I knew my biggest challenge wouldn’t be seasickness but trying not to be rocked to sleep! The water was calm, with waves less than a foot high, something the crew was very thankful for, even if I secretly wouldn’t have minded a little more excitement.
After boarding 2904, we were lowered over the side of the ship. I followed Senior Survey Technician Ali DiTommaso onto the bow, where she released the locking clamps that connected us to the davit. It was fascinating to watch how smoothly the process worked and to finally experience a launch from the small boat perspective.
Taking a turn at the wheel on boat 2904
We spent the day on the water from about 6:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. The launch may be much smaller than the ship, but it is surprisingly well equipped. We brought water, hot water for tea, breakfast, and snacks, and there was even a small refrigerator stocked with sandwich supplies and a microwave for lunch. It felt like a tiny floating office.
With Junior Officer Julian Santos serving as coxswain and Ali running the survey operations, I jokingly felt like the “passenger princess” for the day. While they handled the work, I had the opportunity to observe every aspect of the survey. Seeing hydrography on a smaller scale helped me better understand the process.
Boat 2904 coming in for recovery by NOAA Ship Thomas JeffersonBoat 2903 getting ready for recovery by NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
One of the most impressive moments came at the end of the day during recovery. Watching the coxswain carefully maneuver alongside the TJ looked effortless, but I quickly realized how much coordination is required. The engineers stand by in case there are any issues with the davit or the launch, the Bosun operates the davit, crew handle the lines, and the entire evolution is supervised by the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer. Meanwhile, the bridge monitors everything from the bridge wing to ensure the recovery is completed safely and efficiently.
Boat 2904 being recovered by the crew of NOAA Ship Thomas Jefferson
Before I had the chance to ride on one of the launches, I had watched them return to the ship from the deck. Seeing the boats racing across the water toward the TJ with spray flying behind them reminded me of something straight out of an old James Bond movie. They looked fast, powerful, and just a little dramatic. It felt like they were in slow motion!
Santos and Ali really made the day great, and I was lucky enough to get to tag along with them!
Did You Know?
The Great Lakes span 4,530 miles of coast and account for 21% of the world’s freshwater, with more that 30 million people relying on them for drinking water.
The nautical term “holiday” comes from the 17th century when missing a spot while painting a ship. “Were you on a holiday?” or “Do you need a holiday?”
