Visitor's Guide

Introduction

If you're reading this page, it probably means that you're planning a visit to the XRF Core Scanning facility at IODP. Welcome! Whether you're coming for three days or three weeks, you'll probably want to know what to expect when you arrive.

This page will provide some basic information to help you plan your trip. We also encourage you to explore the rest of this site prior to your arrival. You'll get more out of your experience, and more out of your data, if you come armed with a basic understanding of lab operations and the theory behind the analyses.

I recommend that, at a minimum, you familiarize yourself with the instrument capabilities and read through the quick start guide once you're finished with this page.

Location

The International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) is affiliated with and partially managed by Texas A&M University (TAMU). The building is located at the following address, on the southern end of the campus:

1000 Discovery Dr

College Station, TX 77845

More information, including directions from nearby cities, can be found on the main IODP visitor information website.

Getting Around

There are a number of ways to get around town during your visit. When choosing your accommodations, you should consider the location and the distance to IODP if you plan to get around via bus, bike, taxi, or on foot.

Car

Many visitors choose to rent a car for the duration of their stay. If you wish to drive to and from the IODP building, you'll need to either park in one of the four visitor spaces (typically occupied), or more likely, you'll need to obtain a temporary parking permit. When you arrive on your first day, please ask for a permit at the front desk.

Bus

Texas A&M and College Station are served by an extensive bus network, and bus rides are free to all users. There are bus routes that run off-campus, including ones that run near popular hotels for visitors (Figure 1). You may be asked to show a University ID when you board, but you are not required to have one in order to ride. If you are asked for a University ID, please tell the driver that you are a visitor doing research at IODP.

For up-to-date maps and route information, please visit the Texas A&M Transportation bus routes website. Please note that bus service may be severely limited around holidays, and all buses will have reduced service during the summer.

Taxi/Ride Share

Some people choose to use Taxi services or other ride-sharing services such as Uber to get back and forth each day. There are several options in the College Station and Bryan area; we do not endorse or recommend any one in particular.

Bike

College Station has numerous bike lanes, and cycling is a popular mode of transportation for students. Although IODP does not offer bikes for loan, Texas A&M is partnered with Veo to offer a bike share program on campus. Please see the University's bicycle services page for more information and additional bike rental options.

Walking

Some people decide to walk back and forth to IODP from their hotels each day. If you choose to walk as your primary mode of transportation, please be aware that the weather can be very hot in Texas! Make sure you bring water with you and be sensible!

Weather

College Station is located in eastern Texas, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. The climate is hot and humid, and the area can be affected by severe weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and even ice storms. Temperatures rarely get below freezing. Temperatures in the winter tend to range from upper 50s to lower 70s F ( ~13 - 22 C) during the day and from upper 30s to lower 50s F (~3 - 12 C) at night, but the weather is quite variable. In the summer, temperatures tend to range from the upper 90s to lower 100s F (~35 - 40 C) during the day to the mid 70s (~23 C) at night. Humidity can be quite high, and thunderstorms are common throughout the year. Annual rainfall totals are >40 inches (>1000 mm). For more information, please see the US National Weather Service's climate data page. Be sure to check the weather before you leave for your trip!

Food

If you want to maximize the number of core sections that you can scan during your visit, then you should plan to bring lunch with you most days. There are grocery stores near campus that can be reached via car, bus, or even bike (Brookshire Brothers, White Creek Community Center, etc). If you prefer to leave the building for lunch, you'll find plenty of restaurants near campus and in downtown College Station.

Please do not eat within the lab space. This is so we can prevent contamination of the sediments and pest infestation.

Working Hours

Standard working hours in the XRF Lab are 8 AM - 5 PM, Monday - Friday. If you wish to scan outside of those hours or on weekends, you'll need to get the permission of the Lab Manager. Individual users will not be permitted to arrive and start their scanning on a weekend. All individuals must be trained and supervised by the lab staff on their first day. If you wish to scan outside of standard hours, you must be accompanied by at least one other person! This is a university rule and is non-negotiable!

After Hours (5 pm+)

Let the Lab manager know if afterhours access is needed. Doors to the facility will lock around 5 pm. You will be given an access card for entry into the main building and the GCR (two swipes necessary). Please remember to return these items back. If forgotten, you will need to return them through standard mail.

Lab Rules

There are only a small number of rules that you need to adhere to in the XRF Core Scanner lab:

• The XRF lab is considered as a research lab, so you must wear pants and closed-toe shoes, for your safety

• You must receive basic lab safety and operations training prior to starting work on your first day

• You must report any and all injuries to the Lab Manager

• You must inform the Lab Manager of your planned hours each day

• You must keep a close eye on the instrument(s) and report any suspicious noises, errant behavior, suspected data quality issues, etc. The lab staff will be checking on such things periodically during the day, but do not wait if you notice a problem!

• You must get permission to scan outside of standard business hours (Mon - Fri, 8AM - 5PM), and if you are permitted to scan, you must be accompanied by at least one other person

• You are not permitted to eat or drink in the XRF lab!

What to Expect During Your Visit

*Prior to your visit, please coordinate with the XRF Lab Manager about which cores and sections you plan to scan. It can take some time for the sections to be pulled from the racks of the repository, and we want to be sure they are ready for you when you arrive.

When you first arrive at IODP, you'll need to check in with the Lab Manager. After you enter the lobby at the front of the building, walk past the front desk, turn to the left, and then take another left into the Gulf Coast Repository (GCR). The Lab Manager's office is the second one on the right (B111). If you need help, please find any one of the other GCR staff members and they can assist you. The Lab Manager or one of the GCR staff members will then help you get a parking permit (if needed), WiFi access (if needed), and anything else you might need prior to giving you a basic tour of the facilities. 

Once you are ready to begin working, the Lab Manager will give you a safety orientation and will walk you through what you'll need to do to prepare cores and scan them. If you are scanning cores housed at the GCR, then they should already be available in the lab for you. If you're not experienced using the facilities, or if you are and it's been awhile since you've scanned, we will work alongside you for the first half of the first day. We will help you run the standards, perform basic data QA/QC, prepare your first couple of sections with you, and set up your first few runs. After that, we will make sure that someone is available at all times for assistance, and we will check on you, the instruments, and the data periodically, just to be sure. Please feel free to ask for help at any time!

At some point during in your visit, we will sit with you and go through the basics of the technique, including relevant theory if desired, and we will walk you through how you can interpret and process your data. We will make sure that you leave the lab with both raw and processed data, but it is our mission to make sure that you understand how that processed data was generated. Processing is fundamentally an interpretive act, and you, as a scientist, must understand the origins of your data!

If, during the course of your visit, you have any special requests, such as additional (or alternative cores) that you'd like to scan, experiments you'd like to run using different excitation conditions, or even if you'd like to spend some time learning more about the technique or going over your data, please let us know! We're here to help you in any way that we can.

Finally, please be prepared to take large numbers of raw files with you when you leave. You may use a portable hard drive, USB stick, or an online file service such as Google Drive to copy your data. We will keep copies of your files for a certain amount of time, but it is your responsibility (ultimately) to make sure that you have your data. We also encourage users to learn how to (re-) process their data on their own, so they can test different assumptions and models.

More Information

If you'd like any additional information to help you plan your visit, please feel free to contact one of the individuals listed below.

Lab Contact

Jesse Yeon

XRF Lab Manager, Gulf Coast Repository

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)

Texas A&M University

yeon@iodp.tamu.edu

Gulf Coast Repository Contact

Michelle Penkrot

Curator, Gulf Coast Repository

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP)

Texas A&M University

penkrot@iodp.tamu.edu