Since late 2019, Kent Larsen has served as the oceanographic technical services manager for the BIOS-operated research vessel Atlantic Explorer. It’s a vital role, as modern oceanographic research ships have huge electrical and electronic requirements with complex technology to support their communications systems. His responsibilities include maintaining the audio-visual, electronic, and technical systems on board the ship, from satellite communications and navigational systems to the bridge (the ship’s command center) to emergency and surveillance systems.

In early February, the Government of Bermuda released a public report titled “The State of Bermuda’s Marine Waters: A Snapshot of Bermuda’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from the Coastline to 200 nautical miles (nm).” It was released as part of the Bermuda Ocean Prosperity Programme (BOPP), a partnership between the Government of Bermuda, the Waitt Institute, and BIOS designed to sustainably protect and manage the island’s ocean resources. BOPP is also working with the Government and local industries, such as tourism and fisheries, to diversify national revenue and support the development of a “blue economy” that balances the sustainable use of ocean resources with marine ecosystem health.

Climate change will challenge many of the processes that sustain life around the globe, but new research led by Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences provides a fresh look at the planet’s resiliency. The results reveal how microscopic ocean life that drives the carbon cycle in the Atlantic is adapting to warmer conditions. The news does not mean the end of the planet’s concerns, but it can help researchers better forecast the future.

In 1991, BIOS became a site for the competitive and prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, which provides participants with the opportunity to work alongside the Institute’s faculty and staff on research projects in a variety of topics in ocean sciences.

BIOS training leads to diverse careers in marine and atmospheric sciences, and beyond

Damian Grundle, on board the research vessel Atlantic Explorer, recently joined the BIOS faculty.

For millennia, the exchange of CO2 (carbon dioxide) between the ocean and atmosphere has been in balance. Now, with more human-caused, or anthropogenic, carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere, the ocean is taking up more CO2 as well. This additional CO2 is negatively impacting sensitive ecosystems and scientists worry how changes to the ocean environment will affect the way carbon is cycled through the seas. Tune in to Changing Seas The Fate of Carbon, which features BIOS scientists working on the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS), which has collected data on the physical, biological, and chemical properties of the ocean since 1988. Learn how these measurements are helping us learn more about the role of carbon, and the ocean, in Earth’s changing climate.

The research vessel Atlantic Explorer sailed from BIOS in June sporting a new instrument package on its mast and bow designed to measure climate-relevant, constantly shifting gases, moisture, and heat between the ocean and the atmosphere.

An interdisciplinary team of scientists joined forces in July for their first annual research cruise dedicated to revealing how specific microbes take up and transform organic matter within a web of ecological interactions in the waters southeast of Bermuda.

While many students spent the summer enjoying Bermuda’s beaches and the freedom of not having to set an alarm clock, Jacari Renfroe—a 14-year old at The Berkeley Institute in his first year of senior school—showed up bright and early, five days a week for his Bermuda Program internship at BIOS.