The science party consisted of 26 scientists and three outreach officers and included sedimentologists, micro-paleontologists, microbiologists, paleo-magnetists, stratigraphic correlators, geochemists and geophysicists. There was also a group of technicians who are highly trained specifically for scientific ocean drilling, as well as a drilling crew and ship crew onboard.

Kapuge was one of the sedimentologists interested in reconstructing how the deep ocean changed in the northern high latitudes as Earth’s climate evolved. One of the ways she helped to conduct this research was by examining sediment cores. 

"If you think of PVC tubes, the sediment cores are similar to those, only with sediment filled into them,” Kapuge said. 

They collected roughly 4,500 meters of sediments, and Kapuge was responsible for describing the retrieved sediments for any drilling disturbances, documenting lithological and mineralogical composition, measuring color reflectance and magnetic susceptibility, and conducting high-resolution RGB imaging and an X-ray on the cores. 

They used smear slides created from sediment under a petrographic microscope, a microscope used to study rocks, to quantify the lithological composition and mineral availability. Additionally, sediment samples underwent bulk and clay mineral measurements using the X-ray diffraction method.

“The main idea behind doing this is to make a detailed description of cores for later use,” said Kapuge who added that while at UD, she is conducting research on marine sediments for her doctorate degree based on the samples collected by her advisor, Chandranath Basak, assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, from the same program on an IODP Expedition 383 to the South Pacific in 2019.

Kapuge said it is important to collect these sediment samples because they serve as an archive of past changes that have occurred in the environment. 

“These sediments record all the chemical, and physical changes around them, so whatever happened in the ocean, these sediments serve as a recorder,” Kapuge said. “We can use those sentiments to figure out what happened in the past. For example, if we go to the ocean in the modern day and measure the water column, we only get to know present conditions, but we cannot know what happened a thousand years ago. In order to figure that out, we must go to the past through sediments.” 

In this region, which serves as a special gateway for ocean currents to flow between the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, the cores they collect will show how the ice sheet has changed throughout the past. Kapuge explained that the region sees northward flowing North Atlantic Water, bringing heat and salt moisture to the Arctic region, which influences the formation and melting of ice sheets.

While much of Kapuge’s time onboard was spent on fulfilling science objectives, she was also active in raising awareness about the significance of learning about past climate change and what it’s like to conduct research at sea. Kapuge has been involved in coordinating and running a few ship-to-shore outreach programs, during which she has led hour-long virtual tours of the JR for undergraduate students at the University of Ruhuna and the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka. 

“I used this opportunity to show how science works in the JR, as this is a floating lab, how drilling works, social life, food, the gym and health services, such as the doctor's office, onboard,” said Kapuge, who added that she conducted these sessions in her native language, Sinhalese, to make it accessible for the audience. 

Kapuge said that having the opportunity to sail on an IODP expedition has been a highlight of her academic career. 

“I learned a lot, and as a Ph.D. student, it was a big opportunity to learn as well as collaborate with eminent scientists in the field internationally,” she said. “When I started my Ph.D. program and I got to use marine sediments from IODP, I always wanted to sail on the JR and engage in scientific ocean drilling. I’m also very much into education outreach and it has been great to shed light for some of these students about what life is like aboard the ship and the engagement of women in science.”