They came with robots in their arms and dreams of undersea victories. On April 30, more than 100 Bermudian students met at the National Sports Centre pool to compete in the island’s second annual Mid Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) underwater robotics challenge, with lead donor support from HSBC.

Twenty-eight teams from nine schools and educational organizations will converge on the National Sports Centre on Saturday, April 30, for the 2016 MATE Bermuda Regional ROV Challenge. The program, hosted by BIOS, is part of the Mid Atlantic Robotics IN Education Program (MARINE), with lead donor support from HSBC.

BIOS training leads to diverse careers in marine and atmospheric sciences, and beyond

While many students spent the summer enjoying Bermuda’s beaches and the freedom of not having to set an alarm clock, Jacari Renfroe—a 14-year old at The Berkeley Institute in his first year of senior school—showed up bright and early, five days a week for his Bermuda Program internship at BIOS.

Many fields of science require, by their nature, a multidisciplinary approach. The field of catastrophic risk prediction—in which scientists combine information about forecasting, economics and both current and past climate conditions to help insurance companies deal with global unpredictability—is a perfect example. Mark Guishard, head of the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) at BIOS, appreciates the need for diverse expertise to address complex issues that cross international boundaries. Not only does he have a background that includes 15 years with the Bermuda Weather Service and time as a reinsurance analyst and risk modeler, he also mentored RPI interns this summer with three different academic careers and plans for the future.

When Samia Sarkis dreamed of planting gardens on Bermuda, she didn’t envision blooming flowers for picking or rows of lettuce for eating, but instead vast beds of undersea corals.

Building on two years of successful programs within Bermuda’s schools, including professional development workshops for teachers and an annual design and piloting challenge for students, the BIOS Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) initiative recently announced a new partnership with the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI).

BIOS’s Ocean Academy program has a new partner in delivering hands-on science education and learning opportunities to Bermuda’s students: The Chatmore Preparatory School.

In September, boys from Dellwood Middle School visited Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve to snorkel, identify fish, and tour the area on board the vessel Polaris and the Bermuda sloop Spirit of Bermuda. In 2015, more than 300 middle school students participated in the half-day marine science immersion program, a partnership with Bermuda Sloop Foundation and BIOS’s Ocean Academy. BIOS staff members and volunteers have participated as snorkeling and marine science educators for the past eight years.

When Quincy Paynter, deputy principal at The Berkeley Institute—a public senior school in Bermuda—wanted to provide his students with team-building experiences that would also highlight key scientific concepts related to electives offered at his school, he knew where to turn: the BIOS Education Department.