The event that sparked the birth of InterRidge occurred when two countries using the same resource- and labor-intensive tools to visit the same place on the ocean floor realized that it made more sense to share resources than have to find ways to independently fund their own. It was 1992. Thirty years later, InterRidge remains anchored by the principle of collaboration. It is an international organization that pools the resources of its member countries to drive oceanic ridge research forward in a way that is cost-effective, cooperative and proven to be successful. 

The first ten years of InterRidge produced a coordinated, international ridge community of member countries that had previously been working alone and left a string of success stories in its wake. Two examples are the first-ever mapping and sampling of one of the slowest spreading and remote centers known to date, the Gakkel Ridge in the Arctic Ocean, and the exploration and study of the Southwest Indian Ridge. Now in its third decadal plan, InterRidge currently has ~1600 member researchers and 20 member nations. The doors are wide open for more to join.