The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) quickly took on a unique identify in 2003 when it became an international scientific ocean drilling program with a 10-year science plan, sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Communicating the program’s complex purpose and structure, including its operations, management, governance, and key partners became a priority and a key challenge. An Internet domain was obtained with the program’s acronym, www.iodp.org and an initial online presence was established mid-2004.

Since then, IODP-MI, the program’s central management organization, invested resources into building a web portal that spans the breadth of the ocean drilling community and probes deeply into partner sites to provide vital information about the program to scientists, news media, educators, and students.

The newly designed home page features numerous images (which randomly change when refreshed) to demonstrate the activities that occur on scientific expeditions conducted by IODP Implementing Organizations, e.g., preparing the ship to retrieve sediment and rock from deep beneath the seafloor, bringing core aboard in barrels, sectioning, testing, and analyzing the core in onboard labs.

Other new and notable features include:

1. links to numerous IODP national offices and program partners;
2. news/media center;
3. subscription page for IODP-MI newsletter;
4. access to program information generated in Japan, Europe, and the U.S.; and
5. an integrated, hyperlinked calendar for IODP events, meetings, expeditions, and other program elements.

Ongoing web development will result in a powerful search engine that will enable visitors to locate IODP scientific papers, scientists, and program elements globally.

For more information, contact , IODP-MI Director of Communications.