This summer BIOS is offering two unique courses focused on coral reef ecology, and both provide exceptional opportunities for university students to gain hands-on experience with modern research methods. Bermuda’s coral reefs provide spectacular underwater classrooms for SCUBA-certified students to experiment and study as they become the next generation of coral reef scientists and stewards.

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.

For more than two decades, BIOS has hosted a variety of intensive and immersive summer courses for an international cohort of undergraduate and graduate students.

For 20 days in July 2019, BIOS welcomed 18 students on campus to learn first-hand about the natural and anthropogenic factors in play to sustain life on Bermuda’s famed coral reefs. Course attendees travelled from Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, Slovenia, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S., to further their knowledge of the coral, fish, and algae that form reef ecosystems.