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.

Funds granted in May by the National Science Foundation will allow BIOS scientists to continue their research through 2023 at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site, a project established in 1988 by BIOS and collaborators to examine the “time-varying” components of the ocean carbon cycle, ocean physics, and biology.

Nick Mathews spent three years as a marine technician, enjoying months at sea and working 12-hour days aboard the BIOS-operated research vessel Atlantic Explorer, when he jumped at the opportunity to become a manager. Mathews, now 28, oversees a crew of three technicians and helps to develop budgets, write grants, and make sure the ship is ready for the hundreds of days it spends at sea each year for science. When he is not at BIOS or sailing on the Atlantic Explorer, he can be found living on his 30-foot sailboat Night Owl, moored at Stokes Point.

Last month a team of researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) embarked on a unique scientific mission aboard the BIOS research vessel Atlantic Explorer to test new technologies while exploring the Bowditch seamuont, located 24 nautical miles northeast of Bermuda. During the 10-day cruise, the team utilized the WHOI autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Sentry as a platform to test three oceanographic navigational instruments. These technologies are being evaluated for use on state-of-the-art oceanographic research platforms that are lower-cost and operational for longer time periods than traditional research platforms, such as large, ocean-going research vessels or manned submersibles.

Deborah Moran spent years working in Bermuda’s maritime industry, earning her SCUBA certification at age 16, qualifying as a PADI Open Water Instructor at 21, and a year later obtaining a Bermuda pilot’s license. She spent the next 15 years captaining boats and leading dive trips around the island’s reefs and shipwrecks. Working in the tourist diving industry, “it was three dives a day, seven days a week,” Moran said. “I’ve spent thousands of hours on and under the water around Bermuda.”

Three decades ago, scientists came to Bermuda to address “big picture” questions about the ocean by collecting data on fundamental physical, chemical, and biological parameters throughout the water column in the Sargasso Sea. They knew that critical questions about how the ocean functions, such as how it responds to global climate change, could only be answered by the collection and subsequent analysis of data gathered continuously over a long period, also known as a time-series study.

About every 18 months since 2010, Becky Garley, 34, has packed a bag for 5 to 7 weeks of shipboard living in the Arctic or Southern Ocean. As a research specialist at BIOS she works with faculty member and marine chemist Nick Bates to collect and analyze water samples for their work on the ocean carbon cycle. They look specifically at dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity (important to measure the ocean’s ability to neutralize acidic pollution). Their work informs broader, global research into the ocean carbon system and the effects of climate change on the ocean.

Late last month, a four-day research cruise on the Sargasso Sea gave two local educators and a senior school student the opportunity to gain unique insight into what it means to live and breathe science aboard a working research vessel. The cruise was part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) investigating the daily migrations of small marine zooplankton called copepods.

This summer marks the third year that BIOS has offered its Modern Observational Oceanography (MOO) course to undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in oceanography programs. The course aims to provide students with a broad introduction to, and practical experience in, the field of observational oceanography—a rapidly developing area of study that focuses on using a variety of technologies and methods to further our understanding of how the physical state of the ocean is changing.

After years of collaborating on a variety of education programs, Dalhousie University and BIOS have taken a significant step in formalizing and expanding their partnership: the launch of new opportunities through the Dalhousie-BIOS Experiential Learning Fund. This fund, established in 2011, was designed to strengthen ties between these two leading ocean research institutions and create a continual flow of students from Dalhousie to BIOS. While many Dalhousie students have taken classes or conducted internships at BIOS over the years, there was no formal program supported by the Dalhousie-BIOS Experiential Learning Fund…until now.