For his studies, Michael Brandon Jones, MS '95M, has journeyed from the top of the world to the bottom of the sea.

Currently working toward his doctorate in UD's College of Marine Studies, Jones is preparing for a second deep-sea trip aboard the research ship Atlantis to the Sea of Cortés, just off the western coast of Mexico.?

The 274-foot support vessel with its accompanying deep-sea submarine, Alvin, both operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., also will be home to an international team of scientific researchers in October.

Built in 1962, Alvin is a fully equipped research lab stocked with such scientific amenities as video cameras, an underwater telephone, a computer-data display record system, sonar, sediment covers, temperature probes, a magnetometer and long, clawed arms called manipulators.

For Jones, being part of a three-person crew conducting research one mile below the surface in the cramped confines of a 6-foot titanium sphere nestled within a mini-sub means adhering to some very stringent operating guidelines.

"It gets very cold and dark as you descend into the ocean," Jones says. "You do not wear shoes or synthetic clothing because this could cause a fire in the highly pressurized chamber."

While space inside Alvin is at a premium, the vessel does allow room for some special high-tech equipment--like a wand with special electrodes used for taking chemical measurements, a thermometer and a gadget called a "sipper" used for gathering water samples. ?

Developed by researchers from UD and Analytical Instrument Systems, the electrodes make it possible to take chemical measurements on the spot in "real time," instead of having to send the samples on a two-hour trip to the surface for analysis.

During the first expedition to the Sea of Cortés in January 2000, UD researchers, led by chief scientist Craig Cary, associate professor of marine studies, used this special equipment to study hydrothermal vents that produce underwater geysers in one of the most geologically active areas on the planet.

Darting about in the darkness of the ocean floor are life-forms that range from spectacular 4-foot-long tube worms and giant clams to ancient bacteria that seem to flourish in this highly toxic environment, living under great pressure.

These creatures are of special interest to researchers who want to learn more about the implications of their chemistry and microbiology for science and industry.

Even scientists at NASA, the American space agency, are curious. They want to know if an extra-terrestrial version of the hydrothermal vents might be the cause of shifting ice fields on the surface of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.

Believing that today's young people will be tomorrow's scientists, UD's deep-sea researchers have shared their findings with school children and educators back in the classroom.

When Atlantis and Alvin return to the Sea of Cortés in October, Jones will continue the interactive learning adventure begun during the January 2000 expedition, when a computer hookup linked the researchers with hundreds of students in classrooms in Delaware, New Jersey and California.

"One of my duties will be to coordinate the questions asked by students," Jones says. "Also, it will be my responsibility to put the information on the World Wide Web for the people back on land to see."

For Jones, his journey to the bottom of the sea began in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio, where the closest body of water of any considerable size is Lake Erie, a three-hour drive to the north.

Closer to home, however, was the Springfield reservoir, where his grandparents, Claude and Australia Page, kept a boat, and Jones often fished for catfish, bass, blue gills, pike and walleyes.

Jones says his interest in the sea was piqued by watching television shows like Nova and other educational programs featuring the exploits of marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

"There was just something about the ocean and how it takes up so much of the planet," Jones says. "To me, the whole idea was fascinating."

This fascination with the ocean continued through high school, where he enjoyed math, biology and science. After graduation from Lincoln University, he won an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) internship at Anchorage, Alaska. "The land was physically beautiful, and we also were able to visit the top of the world at the Arctic Circle," Jones says.

Enrolling at UD for a master's degree, Jones focused on monitoring the return of the blue crab, or megalopae, in the Delaware Bay estuary.

Blue crabs begin life as microscopic, insect-like larvae that float along in the sea and are pretty much at the mercy of prevailing winds and currents.

"What I looked at was how they came back to the bay, and how this movement was affected by physical forces, such as winds and tides," Jones says. "I wanted to see how all these things were part of that process."

Jones followed his master's degree with a five-year teaching stint in Prince George's County, Md., where he taught biology and environmental science. Each summer, he returned to Lewes to serve as a technical assistant. He was asked to return as a Ph.D. student.

"Prof. [Charles] Epifanio asked me how I liked teaching," Jones says. "He thought enough of me to ask me to come back, and I thought enough of him to accept."

When his high school teaching duties were finished in the spring of 1999, Jones returned to UD to pursue his doctorate and continue his studies involving blue crab migration.

That research uses ultrasonic transmitters that are attached to female crabs, who are then released back into Delaware's coastal waters.

The transmitters give off a pinging sound like the noise heard aboard submarines, and this sound is monitored through the use of headphones and a battery-operated ultrasonic receiver.

"This research allows managers of the state's wildlife and waterways to look at the data and make certain decisions," Jones says. "This can result in crabbing restrictions, including catch allowance and size restriction."

After finishing his degree requirements, Jones may return to teaching or perhaps pursue a public or private career in a scientifically related field.

Jones credits his parents, grandparents and an aunt, Blence May, as well as his high school and college teachers, with giving him the support that's allowed "me to chase that dream. With that kind of support, you can do anything you want," Jones says. "I also would like to thank God for the opportunity to do all the things I have been able to do.