Marine science isn’t a prerequisite for medical school, but last month 13 pre-medical and health students from Furman University traveled to BIOS to spend three weeks delving into marine science for human good. They were participating in the second offering of BIOS’s interdisciplinary Oceans and Human Health course, which is co-taught by two Furman biology professors and four BIOS scientists. Through lectures, field trips, and hands-on research projects, the course covers how human health benefits from marine life, as well as the potential threats facing humans and marine organisms, and risk management and policy implications.

In balmy Bermuda, it is hard to imagine anything other than fresh air and sea breezes entering people’s lungs.  But over the last two decades, scientists working with the Department of Environmental Protection have discovered there are some places in Bermuda where the air people breathe is similar to the polluted air of a big city.

Within the contours of oceanographic data are the stories of great ocean currents, tiny plankton, and life-sustaining nutrients at the surface of the sea.  University students learn to study ocean properties through plots and graphs of these data, but rarely do they get hands-on experience with the instruments that generated them. A new BIOS summer course aims to change that by introducing students to the methods and technologies that have become the bread and butter of modern oceanography.

Both BIOS and Bermuda College are known for providing outstanding educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects for the island’s young people. While the Bermuda College is a degree-granting institution and BIOS is a not-for-profit research and education facility that focuses on training local students in primary, middle, and high school, both organizations have a similar goal: to provide the island’s children and young adults with the knowledge, skills, and experiences required for future success in academics and the workforce.

After weathering more than two decades worth of tropical storms and hurricanes, BIOS’s Tudor Hill Marine Atmospheric Observatory was dealt a serious blow by Hurricane Gonzalo in October.  The Category 2 hurricane’s direct path over Bermuda led to the collapse of the 23 meter tall aluminum walk-up tower. Luckily, standard storm protocols successfully protected the instruments that sample aerosols and meteorological data for the observatory’s long-term datasets.

For anyone who lived in Bermuda during the 1960s and 1970s, seeing tar balls and oil on local beaches was a frequent, if not regular, occurrence.  Floating tar balls are the result of petroleum in the marine environment, either from onshore and offshore oil production, processing and handling, shipping operations, or natural oil seeps. Because some tar balls float, they can be carried over large distances by ocean currents before they are deposited on the shoreline.

In 2000, BIOS realized its vision of serving as a year-round educational institute with the development of spring and fall semester programs designed for undergraduate students interested in ocean and atmospheric sciences. The initial fall semester program consisted of three courses—coral reef ecology, marine invertebrate zoology, and marine biology and oceanographic research—and was created in partnership with the University of Rhode Island (URI) and Roger Williams University (RWU), both located in Rhode Island on the east coast of the United States.

Researchers and students representing BIOS gathered in San Diego, California, in mid-February to participate in the biennial Ocean Sciences meeting. The flagship conference, held jointly by the Oceanography Society, the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, and the American Geophysical Union, attracted nearly 5,000 scientists, managers, and educators from around the globe.