In 2000, BIOS realized its vision of serving as a year-round educational institute with the development of spring and fall semester programs designed for undergraduate students interested in ocean and atmospheric sciences. The initial fall semester program consisted of three courses—coral reef ecology, marine invertebrate zoology, and marine biology and oceanographic research—and was created in partnership with the University of Rhode Island (URI) and Roger Williams University (RWU), both located in Rhode Island on the east coast of the United States.

Since 1987, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded a research internship for undergraduate students called the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. The internships, which usually run for 10 to 12 weeks, are hosted at universities, research institutions, and professional scientific organizations and allow participants to work alongside faculty members and scientists on research projects in a wide range of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Canadian Associates of BIOS (CABIOS) student Annaliese Meyer, a microbiology student who worked with BIOS chemical oceanographer Damian Grundle, presented at two conferences in 2019 and early this summer moves to Australia for continued research in astrobiology.

A partnership between BIOS and two Massachusetts-based institutions was strengthened with the addition of a new microbial oceanography course, held for the first time at BIOS in January.

For more than two decades, BIOS has hosted a variety of intensive and immersive summer courses for an international cohort of undergraduate and graduate students.

In early March, a group of 21 Road Scholars visited BIOS as part of a Bermuda-based learning adventure entitled Bermuda Unveiled: Historic Forts, Secret Gardens & More. Since 1975, not-for-profit Road Scholar, originally known as Elderhostel, has been giving older adults access to experiential learning opportunities around the globe.

Our educators have compiled a list of ocean-themed resources, from curriculum components to webinars and games, to help keep your kids’ minds active while they’re not in the classroom.

On May 28, 2020, a team of ocean educators from BIOS, the Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS), and the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) hosted the first episode of a virtual educational series called Ocean Diaries. The collaborative effort emerged in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the annual BIOS Mid-Atlantic Robotics in Education (MARINE) robotics challenge, as well as other educational activities on the island.

For 20 days in July 2019, BIOS welcomed 18 students on campus to learn first-hand about the natural and anthropogenic factors in play to sustain life on Bermuda’s famed coral reefs. Course attendees travelled from Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S., to further their knowledge of the coral, fish, and algae that form reef ecosystems.

In summer 2018, undergraduate student Moronke Harris came to BIOS from the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada to pursue what had been a years-long ambition: oceanographic research. Through a Canadian Associates of BIOS (CABIOS) internship, she spent three months engaged in a geo-engineering project seeking potential solutions for coral reef bleaching.