Scientists are lowered from the deck of R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer to the sea ice of the Southern Ocean as part of a GEOTRACES research cruise.
Scientists are lowered from the deck of R/V Nathaniel B. Palmer to the sea ice of the Southern Ocean as part of a GEOTRACES research cruise. Credit: Sofia Moutino

For our annual fieldwork issue, Eos takes you to the ends of the Earth…and beyond. Science writer Sofia Moutinho embeds herself in a scientific cruise to the Antarctic in “Confined at Sea at the End of the World.” Meanwhile, academics join future astronauts on analogue lunar excursions (by way of Meteor Crater) in Mark Betancourt’s “The Art of Doing Fieldwork on the Moon.” And if you’re wondering how to record such out-of-this-world fieldwork accurately and efficiently, take a look at this month’s opinion from Sabrina Kainz and Andrea Halling, “Snapping Science in the Field.” It’s a field guide in itself—to the brave new world of using social media for science.

  • A penguin shows particular interest in a small shovel.
    A penguin shows particular interest in a small shovel. Credit: Sofia Moutinho     Read more
  • Aerial photo of Meteor Crater, in Arizona
    Meteor Crater, in Arizona, played the part of the Moon in a recent exercise simulating moonwalks for students and early-career planetary scientists. Credit: National Map Seamless Server     Read more
  • Illustration of a person walking in a desert under two suns.
    Tatooine familiarized people with the idea of circumbinary planets long before the first one was discovered. Credit: Journal of Science Communication – JCOM     Read more
  • A photo of sand dunes under a blue sky is annotated with a Snapchat sticker identifying the location: “Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve.”
    Snapchat stickers can be used to annotate images with environmental and temporal information, such as in this photo snapped at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. Credit: Sabrina Kainz     Read more

—Caryl-Sue Micalizio, Editor in Chief

Citation: Micalizio, C.-S. (2024), Charting new territory, Eos, 105, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024EO240223. Published on 23 May 2024.
Text © 2024. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.