5 August 2022

#AntarcticLog: Greetings from the Puerto Rico Trench

Posted by Shane Hanlon

#AntarcticLog is a series of comics by Karen Romano Young. You can find the originals here.
 
Greetings from the deepest place in the Atlantic Ocean!  So far I’m reporting from the surface, but every day human-operated vehicle (HOV) Alvin carries scientists deeper. I mean, if you knew you had access to 99% of the seafloor — where before you had access to 2/3 — wouldn’t you head for the deepest spots? And so, we’ve spent a week exploring the Puerto Rico Trench, and the next leg of our expedition will take us into the Mid-Cayman Trough. 
 
Pretty great stuff — but every single person aboard R/V Atlantis (Alvin’s mother ship) was once a kid who didn’t have the least idea of how to get where they are today.   Making those paths clear — especially for underrepresented communities — is the purpose of my new multimedia project, I Was A Kid. Naturally there’s a comic at the center — a big one and even a baseball card sized one to go with it; but each person’s profile (they are all STEAM professionals or students) is also composed of graphics, photographs, text, audio, and/or video. The message:  Nobody’s path is smooth and uncluttered; yours doesn’t have to be either — everyone can find a place in STEAM fields to help share the amazing and ongoing story of science. 
 
I Was A Kid’s Alvin Science Verification Expedition capsule of comics begins with a profile of Rosa León-Zayas, who kindly translated it to Spanish.  Find her full profile at iwasakid.com.  
 
 
Karen Romano Young is a writer, artist, deep-sea diver, and polar explorer. Follow her on Twitter & Instagram.
 
(P.S. I Was A Kid awaits a primary funding source. I’m open to ideas and partnerships. [email protected])