Ocean Drilling Program In collaboration with the ODP Australian Secretariat, the ODP/TAMU Public Information Office organized a series of events aimed at heightening awareness of ODP with the Australian funding agencies, science community, educators and the general public. The events were centered around the recent Sydney port call and Leg 180. Leg 180 Events 22 July -- Damon Shorter, science writer for the Australian Broadcast Corporation, boarded the JOIDES Resolution near the coast of Papua New Guinea and sailed for the remainder of the leg. Mr. Shorter filed daily reports that were posted on the ABC website (http://www.abc.net.au/science) regarding ODP science, drilling and ship operations. The reports filled 76 pages of information aimed at secondary and university students. The reports will remain on the website for one year. 8 August -- A film crew from Emotions and commissioned by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutions boarded the JOIDES Resolution during transit to Sydney to collect film footage for a television documentary program about science at sea. The film crew remained aboard the ship for the remaining transit time into Sydney. 10 August -- A film crew from the Australian Broadcast Corporation boarded the ship for three hours to collect footage for an upcoming national news report on ABC.   Sydney Port Call 10 August -- A port call meeting was held at the University of Sydney to discuss the upcoming events. JOI, ODP/TAMU, ODP Australia, and Garden Island (port site) officials attended the meeting. 11 August -- First day of port call, a news conference was held aboard the ship at noon with Dr. Brian Taylor, Dr. Bob Carter and Dr. Nick McCave giving presentations regarding Leg 180 results and Leg 181 objectives. 12 August -- More than 100 invited guests attended a VIP event that included ship tours and a reception at Garden Island Harbor. Speaking at the reception was Dr. Jock Keene, Director of ODP/Australia, U.S. Ambassador Genta Hawkins Holmes, AGSO Director Neil Williams and Dr. Kate Moran, Director of ODP. 13 August -- An ODP science conference was held at the University of Sydney, in conjunction with ship tours for 450 members of the science and engineering community and university students. 14 August -- More than 500 invited high school students toured the ship from schools in the Sydney area. Teachers were given "Blast from the Past" posters and copies of the "Mountains to Monsoons" CD-ROM to further their geoscience curriculum in the classroom. ODP/Australia Director Jock Keene (left); Neil Williams, director of the Australian Geological Survey Office; U.S. Ambassador Genta Hawkins Holmes; and ODP Director Kate Moran during a reception for Australian government and university officials attending Sydney Port Call events. More than 100 guests invited by the Ocean Drilling Program Australian Secretariat toured the JOIDES Resolution on 13 August. In the background is the famous Sydney Opera House (right).   Brian Taylor, co-chief scientist for Leg 180, describes core samples collected during the expedition to Ambassador Genta Hawkins Holmes (left). ODP Director Kate Moran guided the Ambassador and her staff on a tour of the JOIDES Resolution. During this cruise the two longest profiles into the deep sub-seafloor biosphere were made. Bacteria remain present in sediment and rock samples analyzed from more than 800 meters below the sea floor. The persistence of apparently living microbial life in hard sedimentary rock as old as 15 million years and as deep as 846 meters into the subsurface extends the known limit of the biosphere. Jeff Fox (center), Director of Science Operations, describes ship operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution to a group of government officials during a tour of the ship.   Ron Grout (right), Leg 181 operations manager, talks with Schlumberger executive Larry Schilhab describing drilling operations aboard the JOIDES Resolution. Schlumberger, in partnership with DSND-SØNDENFJELDSKE, owns and operates the vessel under contract with Texas A&M Research Foundation for the Ocean Drilling Program. Flying proud. The National Science Foundation (top, left), Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Inc. and Australian flags fly high above the JOIDES Resolution during port call activities.