Around BIOS, and at St. David’s and St. George’s boatyards, Richard Smith is known by one name—Chief. The name reflects his role as chief engineer on the BIOS-operated vessel Atlantic Explorer, a role he held for 29 years, maintaining the vessel’s engineering and mechanical operations.
Many of the qualities that make Bermuda an attractive tourist destination—clear ocean water, a dazzling array of marine life, and temperate winters—also make it an ideal location for SCUBA training classes.
Beginning late August 2019, a select group of undergraduate students will embark on a new adventure in their education: a semester at BIOS as part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Initiated by NSF in 1958, the competitive program gives students the opportunity to participate in ongoing research programs or independent research projects in a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
For young oceanographers, one of the most exciting components of their undergraduate and graduate education is the prospect of going to sea aboard a working research vessel, particularly if they get to conduct scientific research for their thesis or as a project technician. Unfortunately, for many students—particularly those at smaller institutions or not affiliated with larger, well-established research programs—obtaining funded shiptime remains a significant hurdle in their practical education.
Internships at BIOS offer many benefits to students pursuing future studies or careers in the oceanographic and atmospheric sciences, including practical experience, mentorship, and—for some—the opportunity to publish the results of their research in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. For students continuing into Ph.D. programs, this latter benefit can be particularly helpful in gaining admission into choice schools and securing paid research with specific labs and faculty members.
Sustained ocean observations provide the foundation for much of the chemical and physical oceanographic research that’s taking place around the world. Such observations, collected over the years and sometimes decades, give scientists insight into global cycles, regional variability and seasonal trends, and long-term changes in ocean chemistry.
Over the last five years, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) has welcomed thousands of primary students through its doors to participate in the Explorer Program. Part of BIOS’s yearlong Ocean Academy, the program offers students and teachers an opportunity to learn about local issues through a variety of hands-on lessons and activities.
For researchers interested in the global climate system, understanding what the future holds often involves studying the climate of the past—a scientific field called paleoclimatology. To understand what Earth’s climate was like thousands, even millions, of years ago, paleoclimatologists rely on preserved physical evidence of climate information, such as tree rings, ice cores, and even the shells of marine microorganisms.
Have you ever wondered how scientists can tell how old a fish is? Or what a fish’s body and tail shape can tell you about how it swims and where it lives? For many people, fish are simply what’s on the menu, but at the 2014 HSBC Explorer Program, BIOS education staff gave students and teachers the opportunity to learn about fish from nose to tail, and from the inside out.
For anyone who lived in Bermuda during the 1960s and 1970s, seeing tar balls and oil on local beaches was a frequent, if not regular, occurrence. Floating tar balls are the result of petroleum in the marine environment, either from onshore and offshore oil production, processing and handling, shipping operations, or natural oil seeps. Because some tar balls float, they can be carried over large distances by ocean currents before they are deposited on the shoreline.