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.

In early August, a team of researchers with the multi-year, multi-institutional BIOS-SCOPE (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences – Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology) program completed their seventh research cruise aboard the BIOS-operated research vessel Atlantic Explorer. For four days, 13 scientists from eight institutions came together to study the unique microbial communities that develop in the Sargasso Sea during the summer, as well as the dissolved organic matter (DOM) they produce, consume, and redistribute throughout the water column.

The pool at the National Sports Centre hosts numerous aquatic competitions throughout the year, but perhaps none as unique as the MATE Bermuda Regional Challenge. The annual challenge, organized by BIOS’s Ocean Academy and supported by lead donor HSBC, is the culmination of months of work by teams of students on the design, construction, and operation of remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs. The challenge is also the final event in the BIOS Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program, which uses a focus on marine robotics to bring science and technology curricula into classrooms around the island.

Scientists estimate there are more than a million times more viruses in the ocean than stars in the universe. While wildly abundant, their tiny sizes present a big a hurdle to fully understanding their function in ocean ecosystems. If a cell were the size of a baseball stadium, a virus would be roughly the size of a baseball, so not only are viruses difficult to see under the microscope, but even gathering enough of their genetic material to analyze can be tricky.

After five years, with more than 25 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, six dedicated research cruises, and more than 45 presentations at national and international meetings, the BIOS-SCOPE (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences – Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology) program has received five years of additional funding from the Simons Foundation International to continue its study of the microbial oceanography of the Sargasso Sea.

Sampling offshore Bermuda this July, the BIOS-SCOPE (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences – Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology) program completed its first full year of study to learn how marine microbes produce, transform, and leave behind dissolved organic matter as the seasons progress, and microbial communities wax and wane.

The gender disparity within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) degree programs and the college-educated workforce is an issue that has faced colleges, universities, funding agencies, and employers for decades.

A molecular facility will enhance sample processing for researchers and experiential learning for students

In 1991, a group of undergraduate students arrived in Bermuda to spend a semester with BIOS faculty and staff who mentored their independent marine science research projects. The program, known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates, or REU, was designed to provide a semester-long, rigorous research experience enhanced by field trips on land and at sea. Since then, nearly 200 university students have participated on a variety of projects, with themes ranging from climate change to coral reef ecology. Their work culminates in a final, formal presentation to BIOS faculty and staff.

BIOS research initiatives and education programs were the topic of a recent episode of “Ocean Hour,” the online education series produced by the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI). The third episode of the program, which aired on the organization’s Facebook page on October 9, featured an interview with Lakshmi Magon, a 2018 BIOS Bermuda Program intern and a 2020 BIOS Ocean Academy intern.