It isn’t news that fewer women than men are working in the scientific, engineering and technological sectors.  In the UK, just 13 per cent of workers in these industries are women.  Unequal pay and funding opportunities may be part of the reason for the lack of females in these fields. The American Economic Review has published findings in a new study that confirms female scientists are still losing out on pay if they choose to have a family: married women with children consistently earn less than men and often drop out of science altogether.  The UK’s research councils show that men have a 3.8 per cent higher chance of success when applying for research grants in biological sciences.  However, a lack of relatable female role models might also be the reason that young women don’t embark on a career in these sectors.

When BIOS coral reef ecologist Samantha de Putron began tackling a project that required multiple, ongoing experiments to address a major portion of an overarching research question, she turned to a resource that scientists have long relied on: interns. And, much like the symbiotic algae in the corals that de Putron studies, this arrangement benefited everyone involved, including two Princeton University students who are using the opportunity to conduct their senior thesis research at BIOS.

Sean McNally, former BIOS Fall Semester student, Grant-in-Aid recipient, and teaching assistant (currently at the University of Massachusetts Boston School for the Environment), and his colleagues, recently had a paper published in the journal Limnology & Oceanography (L&O) revealing how corals influence the communities of microorganisms in the waters around them. Read more at www.whoi.edu/news-release/picoplankton

Many fields of science require, by their nature, a multidisciplinary approach. The field of catastrophic risk prediction—in which scientists combine information about forecasting, economics and both current and past climate conditions to help insurance companies deal with global unpredictability—is a perfect example. Mark Guishard, head of the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) at BIOS, appreciates the need for diverse expertise to address complex issues that cross international boundaries. Not only does he have a background that includes 15 years with the Bermuda Weather Service and time as a reinsurance analyst and risk modeler, he also mentored RPI interns this summer with three different academic careers and plans for the future.

When science came calling for James Galloway in the mid-1970s, he was a potter building garden planters in a Virginia pool hall that he and friends had converted into a craft cooperative. He had recently earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California at San Diego, but after receiving the degree he felt burned out by academia. Instead, with his wife Nancy (a pastel artist and potter) and a group of jewelers, wood workers, and weavers, he spent his days throwing clay on a potter’s wheel.

After six weeks in Australia, NASA’s COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) has completed its campaign along the world’s largest reef structure—the Great Barrier Reef. Eric Hochberg, BIOS reef scientist and CORAL principle investigator, says he’s pleased with the “successful conclusion to the first of four field campaigns designed to shed light on the condition and function of representative reef ecosystems around the world.”

When Samia Sarkis dreamed of planting gardens on Bermuda, she didn’t envision blooming flowers for picking or rows of lettuce for eating, but instead vast beds of undersea corals.

Volunteers from BIOS spent a day scouring beaches, snorkeling in shallow waters, and diving with tanks to remove marine debris, as well as to document the types and quantities of materials collected, during an annual, island-wide clean up effort in September. Eight BIOS employees and students were involved in an on-water operation to retrieve underwater debris on Frank’s Bay in Southampton.

Quinn Montgomery, 23, a senior at the University of San Diego, is one of eight students at BIOS this semester participating in the Institute’s annual Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. During their 12-week stay on Bermuda, students conduct independent projects under the supervision of BIOS faculty and staff, with the support of National Science Foundation funding.

What keeps you up at night? Barking dogs, traffic in the city, perhaps noisy neighbors? For Samm Newton, a graduate student in the Oregon State University (OSU) Environmental Arts and Humanities program, it’s the challenges of connecting the public with the complex, global environmental threats facing society.