Former geology volunteer goes to the bottom of the ocean

I got a note today from former Geologist-in-Parks volunteer Lindsey Doermann, whom some of you may remember from Sunrise during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Here's what a geology volunteer goes on to do after her experience at Rainier:

Right now I am on a research cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean. I am on the Woods Hole ship Atlantis, and we were using the manned deep submergence vehicle Alvin to explore the East Pacific Rise spreading center. The group I'm with (from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where I've been a research assistant for 1.5 years now) is making bottom pressure measurements in hopes of understanding the evolution of the magma chamber beneath the seafloor. This area seems to erupt about every 15 years. I was lucky enough to travel to the seafloor (2500 m depth) in Alvin and see some absolutely incredible geology (2-year-old basalts, great pillows and flow features) and biology at black smoker vents. The experience of going to the bottom of the ocean is difficult to articulate.

Is that cool or what?!