Summary: The Continental Scientific Drilling Facility at the University of Minnesota is funded by the National Science Foundation to provide leadership and services for the communities of scientists requiring drilling, coring, and subsurface surveys and monitoring on the Earth’s continents or in lakes. This includes topics such as the ecology of microbial life deep under Earth’s surface, past climate and ecosystems, archeology and human evolution, hydrology, volcanoes, earthquakes, and even the U.S. energy transition. The CSD Facility helps scientists collect core samples through coring and drilling to address a huge diversity of interesting questions and keeps an archive of previously collected samples so future researchers can continue to work on the cores for decades to come.

Biography: Kat Cantner is the Science and Outreach Coordinator for the Continental Scientific Drilling Facility in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Prior to this, she taught Physical Geology at Minneapolis Community and Technical College and was the science illustrator for the American Geosciences Institute for seven years. Kat works to build community and increase access in education and the geosciences. She has degrees in science illustration, oceanography, geology, and archaeology—all of which help her support a diverse group of scientists interested in exploring the world around them. Web site:  https://cse.umn.edu/csd