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.

In early April, when schools closed to in-person learning in Bermuda due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the BIOS Ocean Academy education team began offering virtual classroom support to teachers and students through the Institute’s Curriculum Enrichment Program. As the closure continues, they encourage teachers island-wide to utilize these science programs taught by BIOS staff.

The BIOS Bermuda Program has been a cornerstone of the Institute’s local educational programming for more than 40 years. Since 1976, this unique program has given Bermudian students aged 18 and older the opportunity to gain valuable experience by working alongside BIOS faculty and scientific staff in hands-on internships that cover a range of topics in the marine and atmospheric sciences. Bermuda Program students have the opportunity to work in both field and laboratory settings, learning skills such as data analysis, communication, and problem solving that are crucial for success in a variety of careers.

Bermudian Claire Fox joined BIOS this month as a science education officer, bringing to the job her experience as a BIOS intern, and as a former employee and volunteer for a variety of island-based science education outlets, plus university-level science training.

On June 8, seven BIOS employees will take part in a virtual career fair hosted by the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) in honor of World Oceans Day. The event’s theme, “The Ocean: Life & Livelihoods,” is designed to help local high school and college students explore the wide variety of career opportunities that exist in fields related to ocean science.

Primary and secondary students at Warwick Academy, a private school in Bermuda, now have the opportunity to participate in ongoing scientific research thanks to a partnership between BIOS, the school, and the Living Reefs Foundation (LRF), a Bermuda-based non-profit organization. The project is one of the first at the Academy’s newly-constructed waterfront Marine Science Center, allowing students to learn valuable laboratory skills and play a role in restoring coral reefs in Castle Harbor that were damaged by the development of the airport in the 1950s.

After months of precautionary cancellations due to the pandemic, BIOS staff hosted several school groups on campus this June for marine science studies that complement public and private school curriculums.