For more than a quarter century, the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) has been making physical, biological, and chemical oceanographic measurements in the open ocean off Bermuda. Once or twice each month, researchers and technicians board the research vessel Atlantic Explorer and head 50 miles (82 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda to an area in the Sargasso Sea, where they collect valuable data on water column properties (including temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity) as well as bacterial production, zooplankton distribution, and abundance. Their data also shed light on the transport and cycling of organic carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen.
BIOS Microbiologist Helping With Covid-19
April 22, 2020
Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences [BIOS] microbiologist and doctoral candidate Rachel Parsons Biggs has been seconded to Helix Bermuda where she is one of the many people helping the island in the fight against Covid-19.
Upper ocean water masses shrinking in changing climate: Less efficient CO2 sink
June 08, 2020
We’re familiar with how climate change is impacting the ocean’s biology, from bleaching events that cause coral die-offs to algae blooms that choke coastal marine ecosystems, but it’s becoming clear that a warming planet is also impacting the physics of ocean circulation.
Research Week Opens the World of Oceanography for C-CoMP Students
June 20, 2023
Wedged between two windy weeks in April, calm weather descended upon Bermuda just as 11 graduate and PhD-bound students arrived at BIOS, primed to head out to sea for a taste of hands-on oceanography under the guidance of Institute scientists, technicians and support personnel.
Study Highlights Importance of Mineral Iron in Ocean Ecosystems
August 31, 2023
New research published in Nature has revealed the importance of mineral forms of iron in regulating the cycling of this bio-essential nutrient in the ocean.
Illuminating Effects of Mesoscale Eddies on Coral Reefs
August 31, 2023
This summer marks year two of a three-year ASU BIOS study designed to expand understanding of how ocean eddies might be affecting coral reefs, as well as what role eddies may have played in reef accretion and overall functioning in the past.
Studying Microbial Metabolisms to Better Understand the Ocean’s Carbon Cycle
January 30, 2023
Research conducted as part of the multi-year, multi-institutional BIOS-SCOPE (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences – Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology) project is shedding light on how the end products of cellular metabolism, called metabolites, could be used to track future changes in the marine environment.
BIOS Scientists Support BUEI Climate Camp
September 02, 2022
Over two days in mid-August, a team of BIOS scientists, along with the Institute’s science writer, supported the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute’s (BUEI’s) inaugural “Earth Reporters: Climate Change” summer camp. Designed for students aged 11 to 14, the week-long camp aimed to provide participants with the skills required to investigate environmental issues, then report on their findings using a variety of journalistic techniques, including photography, storytelling, and videography.
‘An Amazing Place to Learn and Grow’
July 05, 2022
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.
A Big Commotion about Bermuda’s Coccolithophores
July 30, 2022
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.