To visit Nonsuch Island, a lush 14-acre nature reserve located at the east end of Bermuda, the last stretch requires guests to jump from a boat and swim a short distance to shore. For some teens, this may seem like a cool adventure. For those juggling emotional challenges that range from attention disorders and depression to mental health issues, it presents a different hurdle.
Three decades ago, scientists came to Bermuda to address “big picture” questions about the ocean by collecting data on fundamental physical, chemical, and biological parameters throughout the water column in the Sargasso Sea. They knew that critical questions about how the ocean functions, such as how it responds to global climate change, could only be answered by the collection and subsequent analysis of data gathered continuously over a long period, also known as a time-series study.
We have known for decades that scientists can learn about local climate conditions by studying the growth rings in trees. Wide rings form in warmer years with more precipitation; thinner rings indicate a colder, dryer growing season; and scars provide evidence of external environmental factors, such as forest fires and insect infestations.
Corals, with their calcium carbonate skeletons and symbiotic photosynthetic algae, are among the first organisms to be negatively impacted by climate change. Warming waters cause coral to expel the algae, called zooxanthellae, while a gradually acidifying ocean, resulting from increased amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolved in the seawater, can weaken and even dissolve coral skeletons.
Supervisors can help to shape the lives and careers of their students and trainees. Sometimes, they become lifelong mentors and eventual collaborators, contributing to a new generation of scientific discovery. And students can forge meaningful relationships with those senior scientists even at the earliest stages of their science careers.
Each spring, BIOS is one of more than 350 colleges, universities, medical centers, professional organizations, and research institutions that accepts undergraduate students as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. For more than 30 years, the REU program has given U.S. students the opportunity to conduct hands-on research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields as part of their undergraduate education.
Since its inception in the 1970s, the Canadian Associates of BIOS (CABIOS) program has provided more than 200 Canadian students and young scientists with financial assistance to pursue marine science and oceanographic research internships, as well as support for hundreds of students to complete academic coursework at BIOS. Founded by Earlston Doe, a former BIOS Life Trustee and Canadian oceanographer born in Bermuda, the CABIOS fund honors the memory of his youngest son Learmont “Leary” Doe.
Similar to forests on land, the most important source of energy for tropical shallow water coral reefs is light. Photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, live within the tissues of reef-building corals and provide them with oxygen and the products of photosynthesis, including glucose and amino acids. The corals, in turn, use these products as the energy source for building calcium carbonate skeletons and growing more living tissue. Other ecologically important reef organisms, such as macroalgae and turf algae, depend on light for growth and reproduction as well, making light the driving force behind the growth and overall productivity of coral reef ecosystems.
A team of technical divers and scientists, accompanied by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and molecular biology tools, will comprehensively map, photograph, and study part of Bermuda’s deepest reef system with funds from the Cawthorn Innovation Award, now in its third year of supporting the work of BIOS scientists.
As college education becomes as much about experiential learning outside the classroom as it is about lectures, labs, and study halls, many schools have begun to adopt what is known as the “4-1-4” academic calendar. In this system, students have a 4-month semester, then a 1-month “intersession” or “mini session,” followed by another 4-month semester. This offers students a variety of opportunities during this January term, including study abroad programs, internships, undergraduate research, and independent study.