Since its beginning in 1903 as a field station for students and scientists at Harvard University and New York University, BIOS has hosted hundreds of students from colleges and universities around the world. Over the years, students conducting research at BIOS have used their experiences as springboards for acceptance into graduate degree programs, a variety of technical and research positions (both at BIOS and abroad), and—frequently—a scientific publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

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.

Summer internships for college-aged students were among the educational experiences that were hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. As college campuses around the world shut down, students missed out on opportunities to gain skills in non-classroom settings, network with professionals and mentors, and explore potential career fields.

Among the many lessons we’ve learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is the value of having a highly skilled scientific workforce that is capable of leveraging its education to serve the broader community during a time of need.

While the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted summer internship plans for many university students, Amber Wolffe, an undergraduate student in meteorology and mathematics at Metropolitan State University in Denver (Colorado, USA), overcame these challenges to complete an eight-week Bermuda Program internship with the Bermuda Weather Service (BWS, a section of the Bermuda Airport Authority). Since 1976, the BIOS Bermuda Program has selected a handful of budding scientists each year to receive paid fellowships that allow them to work on specific projects of interest alongside BIOS scientists in both field and laboratory settings.

Some of our achievements in 2012 using ocean science for human good include work to:

At BIOS, we believe that ocean science for human good involves not only research with tangible benefits for communities and the environment, but also education programs that highlight the many ways our lives are connected with the ocean. We view education as a crucial part of ocean science research, helping to translate the work of our faculty into meaningful experiences for visitors, students, teachers, and Bermuda residents.

Back in 2006 when Forrest Williams first arrived at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) as a Waterstart student, he wasn’t sure where the experience would take him. “My science teacher in school referred me to the program…I guess she thought I was a good student,” recalls Forrest.

In today’s competitive academic environment and job market, graduate and undergraduate students can benefit from internships and study abroad semesters that provide hands-on experience in marketable skills. For decades BIOS has been providing aspiring scientists with such opportunities through CABIOS (Canadian Associates of BIOS), the NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, and the Bermuda Program.

In the summer of 1999, in the middle of working toward her master’s degree in zoology at the University of Toronto, Lisa Rodrigues—then 21—returned home to Bermuda. Having heard about BIOS from her advisor, and with an interest in focusing on the island’s marine organisms for her thesis, she applied to and was accepted into the Bermuda Program. Now, as then, the Bermuda Program offers intensive, hands-on summer internships in marine and atmospheric sciences to Bermudian students ages 18 and older.