A collaboration between Arizona State University’s “Ask A Biologist” website and researchers and educators at BIOS is helping students understand the fundamental concept of taxonomy, or grouping and classifying organisms based on their physical characteristics. Claire Fox (right), BIOS science education officer, designed an online, interactive game that leads players through the use of a dichotomous key, a tool that helps scientists identify unknown organisms—in this case, species of fish or zooplankton found in Bermuda. The game, called “Keys to the Ocean,” is tied into the “Identification Keys” lesson that is offered through BIOS’s Curriculum Enrichment Program as a 2.5-hour workshop, which includes the opportunity for students to conduct a plankton tow aboard a research vessel and view live plankton under microscopes.The history of taxonomy—or the science of naming, describing, and classifying organisms—is as old as human language and speaks to a fundamental desire to understand and bring order to the natural world. A new online game developed in partnership between Arizona State University’s (ASU’s) Ask A Biologist website and BIOS is combining this fascination with ongoing research to teach students how to use a dichotomous key, a tool that helps scientists identify unknown organisms.

Jurassic Park’s Dr. Ian Malcolm was right. Against seemingly impossible odds, life often does “find a way.” Fictional dinosaurs notwithstanding, creatures large and small display impressive abilities to adapt to changing conditions. Sometimes, though, the changes are so rapid and profound that “life” starts losing its way. Sometimes, “life” needs a hand.

BIOS took the stage at the Bermuda Economic Development Department’s (EDD’s) Technology Innovation Award program, receiving the first-place award in the “Most Innovative Youth Project or Program” category for its “Innovation for the Environment” course offered during summer 2022.

On October 24 and 25, BIOS introduced 42 primary and middle school teachers to a suite of education opportunities being offered through the Institute’s Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program. The MARINE program workshops were coordinated through the annual Bermuda Union of Teachers conference, which includes professional development opportunities for teachers in the Bermuda Public School system during the fall half-term break.

Through the generous support of a philanthropic sponsor, two BIOS Bermuda Program alumni are continuing to develop valuable scientific laboratory techniques and research skills outside of the Institute’s annual summer internship program. Jihad Muhammad, 22, and Marcus Rewan, 21, are working as part-time research interns through the BIOS Curriculum Enrichment Program.

Alongside more than a century of research in ocean and atmospheric science, BIOS has a rich history of education programs that foster an understanding of the island’s marine resources and promote stewardship of the ocean environment among Bermuda’s youth. In addition to school-based programs offered throughout the year, BIOS also collaborates with local organizations to support their ocean-focused education initiatives.

In early August, four researchers representing three international scientific and education institutions converged at BIOS to begin field and experimental work for an investigation into coral resilience. Funded by a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation International, Ltd., this research will build on the results of a previous project, supported by the same donor, that highlighted the importance of environmental history in long-term coral survival.

Not many people can say their selection of a university degree program was largely influenced by electrical wire and pieces of PVC pipe. But for An Mei Daniels, 18, a second-year student in the University of Exeter’s (U.K.) Integrated Masters in Natural Sciences program, it’s true. Her passion for science was discovered by way of a robotics club that she joined during her first year at Warwick Academy, a Bermuda-based secondary school.

While some students begin high school with solid career goals in mind, others are trying to identify their interests and align them with potential academic majors or occupations. The BIOS Ocean Science Camp (OSC) was created in 2018 to help engage and support this latter group of students. OSC is a snorkel-based summer camp geared toward students between the ages of 12 and 15 who are interested in the ocean, but may not have had previous opportunities to study marine science.

In late May 2022, a team of scientists from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA, U.S.), the University of Washington (UW, U.S.), the University of York (York, U.K.), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, U.S.), traveled to Bermuda to begin the installation of a new 30-foot (10 meter) sampling tower with an accompanying suite of state-of-the-art research instruments at the Tudor Hill Marine Atmospheric Observatory (THMAO). The location of this BIOS-operated facility in the middle of Bermuda, itself in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, provides a valuable research opportunity for scientists that study the long-range transport of materials across entire ocean basins.