A workflow for sampling hard rock cores for microbiological research was developed and optimized during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 399. These procedures and protocols were adapted from previous expeditions and further optimized for handling large numbers of hard rock samples. The workflow is also intended to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations so as to maximize the scientific value of each sample for the whole scientific team.

The Geological Research through Integrated Neoproterozoic Drilling project investigates rocks from the late Ediacaran Period, just before the rise of complex life. Its first stage studies rocks in Namibia and Brazil that contain some of Earth's earliest animal fossils. These cores help reveal environmental shifts that shaped early life and show how early animals developed.