Launch of first IODP expedition The scientific team for the first expedition of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) departed Astoria, Oregon on June 28 for the Juan de Fuca Ridge, off the coast of British Columbia. U.K.'s leading carbon cycle research effort The U.K.'s Natural Environment Research Centre (NERC) is launching QUEST, a 5-year, $45.25-million project to improve quantitative and qualitative understanding of large-scale processes and interactions in the Earth system.