Hamilton, Bermuda, August 25, 2022 – “I am excited to advance the Blue Prosperity Plan,” said the Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP, following today’s announcement in Cabinet. “It outlines the first steps for Bermuda to become a global leader and a hub for investment in sustainable industries.”

A recent publication in the scientific journal Frontiers highlights some of the biggest challenges confronting modern deep-sea exploration, namely that technologies are expensive to develop, purchase, and deploy. This, in turn, leads to an imbalance in who can access, utilize, and benefit from these tools, creating longer-term inequities among early career engineers, practitioners, and scientists who might benefit from technical training opportunities.

On July 15, 2022, BIOS released a report titled Climate Change and Bermuda – Part I: Science and Physical Hazards. This report synthesizes the current understanding about the state of Bermuda’s climate, including historical trends and variations over the last several decades that are likely to have an impact on Bermuda’s society. The report also examines projections of future climate scenarios, including a review of uncertainties. Chapters include reviews of recent and future changes in temperature, rainfall and sea level rise. Changes in local natural hazards such as hurricanes and winter gales are also explored to develop a longer-term view of what the near future looks like for the island’s disaster risk.

The Bermuda Program, part of BIOS’s Ocean Academy suite of local education programs, has been providing internship opportunities to Bermudian students, aged 18 and older, since 1976. In that time, more than 250 summer internship placements have been provided to young Bermudians. The program pairs students with BIOS faculty and scientific staff, who serve as mentors for participants while they conduct research projects in the fields of marine and atmospheric science.

This summer marked the eighth BIOS Educator Workshop, a five-day program designed for pre-service, middle and high school teachers, college professors, curriculum specialists, administrators, and informal educators based in Canada and the U.S. who want to plan field courses at BIOS for their students.

A new collaboration between BIOS, Arizona State University’s (ASU’s) Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, and the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) resulted in an exciting learning opportunity for Bermudian students this summer. The weeklong “Innovations for the Environment” experiential training course was offered July 4 to 8 through BIOS’s Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program, which is part of the Institute’s Ocean Academy.

It’s rare that we hear about a new species discovered in Bermuda’s waters. Even rarer to hear about dozens of new species. And rarer still when these species play a key role in the global carbon cycle. A team of researchers led by Josué G. Millán, PhD candidate at Indiana State University and including BIOS zooplankton ecologist Leocadio Blanco-Bercial, have discovered 40 new morphospecies, and likely one new genus, of undescribed coccolithophores—a type of phytoplankton.

What do playdough and underwater robots have in common? Both are tools being used by BIOS’s Ocean Academy to teach students about circuits, reinforcing concepts that are part of the Primary 6 (U.S. grade 5) Physics curriculum for Bermuda’s public schools.

Murdock, 47, calls microbes the engines of the ocean. They’re responsible for feeding other sea life, breaking down waste, making oxygen, and absorbing carbon dioxide. These tiny creatures, among the oldest living organisms on Earth, range from algae and bacteria to fungi and plankton. In Murdock’s early teens she saw a National Geographic magazine featuring newly-discovered deep-sea hydrothermal vents teeming with giant clams, tube worms, and other marine life supported by nutrient-providing microbes. Since then, those ecosystems have been objects of her fascination.

Melissa Hicks is a professor at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York where she teaches introductory courses in geology and oceanography, including a study abroad program in marine ecology of the Bahamas. For the last two years, she’s also been interested in finding ways of incorporating real-world ocean science data into her curriculum.