JOIDES Resolution was modernized during 2007–2008 and returned to active service in February 2009 following an extensive renovation of her laboratory facilities and quarters.

Texas A&M University (TAMU) acts as manager and science operator of JOIDES Resolution as a research facility for IODP.

In addition to laboratories and technical resources, the JOIDES Resolution contains a conference room, offices, cabins (berths) for members of the crew and science parties, and a hospital, galley, and mess hall.

The capabilities of JOIDES Resolution and the tools and techniques used to address science objectives have been continually improved during the life span of the scientific ocean drilling program.

Key recent operational innovations include development of a half-length advanced piston corer (HLAPC) and the drill-in-casing and hydraulic release tool (HRT).

In 2015, a hydraulic release tool (HRT) was adapted to drill-in a reentry system with a short casing string to start a hole in bare rock seafloor at Southwest Indian Ridge (Expedition 360).

The IODP Science Plan for 2013–2023, Illuminating Earth's Past, Present, and Future, focuses on challenges in four areas.

• Climate and ocean change: reading the past, informing the future • Biosphere frontiers: deep life, biodiversity, and environmental forcing of ecosystems • Earth connections: deep processes and their impact on Earth's surface environment • Earth in motion: processes and hazards on human time scales The themes and challenges outlined in the IODP Science Plan are addressed by drilling expeditions that result from peer-reviewed proposals that are evaluated by the Science Evaluation Panel and an external review committee.

The JRFB and NSF review and approve the JRSO Annual Program Plans, which comprise tasks and budget requests in support of the scheduled expeditions.

The JRSO and the JRFB have worked together to set a regional ship track, communicating to the science community the planned areas for JOIDES Resolution operations in future years.

Likewise, two years of drilling in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans resulted in multiple expeditions that address the origin and initiation of the Monsoon climate system.

In March 2023, the U.S. National Science Foundation announced that it would no longer continue its funding in support of the JOIDES Resolution due to increasing cost of operation.

Onboard Education/Outreach Officers sail on each expedition, and JRSO personnel are available to assist with ship-to-shore video conferencing, port call tours, and outreach efforts.