This fall, BIOS will again welcome U.S. undergraduate students to its campus as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. But this year, there will be an exciting new twist to the internship experience.

Adult corals that survive high-intensity environmental stresses, such as bleaching events, can produce offspring that are better suited to survive in new environments. These results from a series of experiments conducted at BIOS in 2017 and 2018 are deepening scientists’ understanding of how the gradual increase of sea surface temperatures and other environmental disturbances may influence future coral generations.

Acting U.S. Consul General Tom Edwardsen visited BIOS on June 22 for a tour of the Institute led by President and CEO Bill Curry. The two-hour tour gave Edwardsen, who is expected to remain in his post until this summer, an opportunity to learn about BIOS’s research and education programs.

Emma O’Donnell, 22, graduated this past spring from Princeton University (U.S.) with a Bachelor of Arts in ecology and evolutionary biology, with high honors. Her undergraduate thesis, “One Fish, Two Fish: Measuring Patterns of Reef Fish Biodiversity in Bermuda Using Environmental DNA Metabarcoding,” was based on research she conducted at BIOS, and it earned her the Princeton Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Prize for Best Thesis in Ecology.

Each year BIOS selects a handful of qualified Bermudian students to participate in the Bermuda Program. The summer internship opportunity pairs participants with BIOS faculty and scientific staff to work on research projects in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with a focus on marine and atmospheric sciences.

A recently awarded grant from the National Science Foundation is set to bring a variety of improvements to the existing outdoor mesocosm facility at BIOS. Originally constructed in 2018 with funding from the Heising-Simons Foundation, International, the mesocosm facility is essentially a large outdoor aquarium comprising four large tanks (400 gallon, or 1,500 liter) and eight small tanks (130 gallon, or 500 liter) housed under a removable canopy. The tanks are located adjacent to a small laboratory trailer, which is used as a staging area and for sample processing.

In late August, nine undergraduate students from schools across the United States, including Puerto Rico, arrived at BIOS for the 2021 National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) internship program. This annual program, which runs for 12 weeks every fall, pairs undergraduate students with BIOS faculty and research staff for independent research projects in a variety of topics in the marine and atmospheric sciences.

A new painting graces the walls of the BIOS reception building commemorating friendships formed during the Institute’s 2019 National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) internship and fall semester program. Commissioned by REU intern Harvey Castillo, then a biology major at Northern Arizona University (U.S.), and painted by visual artist Claudia Palacios, the piece reproduces a photograph of Castillo and fellow students watching a sunset from the dock at the BIOS waterfront.

The Bermuda Program is part of a suite of five progressive education programs at BIOS known collectively as Ocean Academy. Considered the “capstone” activity for students in Ocean Academy, the Bermuda Program—now in its 45th year—offers opportunities for Bermudian students, ages 18 and older, to participate in intensive internships in the marine and atmospheric sciences alongside faculty and research staff at the Institute.

In 2013, Amanda Alker—then a student at Florida Atlantic University—came to BIOS as part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. This annual opportunity provides funding for undergraduate students to conduct supervised research at dozens of U.S.-based research institutes and universities. During her four months at BIOS, Alker investigated antibiotic resistance in bacteria associated with Bermuda’s largest sewage outfall.