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.

A new collaboration between BIOS, Arizona State University’s (ASU’s) Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, and the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF) at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) resulted in an exciting learning opportunity for Bermudian students this summer. The weeklong “Innovations for the Environment” experiential training course was offered July 4 to 8 through BIOS’s Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program, which is part of the Institute’s Ocean Academy.

What do playdough and underwater robots have in common? Both are tools being used by BIOS’s Ocean Academy to teach students about circuits, reinforcing concepts that are part of the Primary 6 (U.S. grade 5) Physics curriculum for Bermuda’s public schools.

Several dozen of Bermuda’s upper elementary and middle school teachers participated in a professional development workshop over the recent half-term break, which ran from February 14 to 18 for the island’s public schools. The workshops aimed to provide educators with tangible examples of how biodiversity data collected by BIOS from the deep sea in and around Bermuda are being used to support the development of marine protected areas (MPAs) around the island as part of the Bermuda Ocean Prosperity Programme (BOPP). As BIOS is one of the three partnering organizations in BOPP, along with the Waitt Institute and the Government of Bermuda, the collaboration was a natural fit and an opportunity for BIOS to share how the work of its scientists is being leveraged in broader decision-making efforts.

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.

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.

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).

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.

This summer, there is a new addition to BIOS: a 20-foot (6 meter) x 4-foot (1.2 meter) above-ground pool, dubbed the Underwater Robotics Innovation Test Pool. The pool is serving as a testing facility this summer for underwater robots, also known as remotely operated vehicles (or ROVs), as part of BIOS’s Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program which is sponsored by RenaissanceRe.