For five days a group of 20 undergraduate students from Barnard College in New York City (U.S.) visited BIOS as part of a new course titled “Bermuda: Case Studies in Environmental Sustainability.” Offered as an elective for students majoring in environmental science or environmental sustainability, the course combines the study of the island’s ecology, geology, and hydrology with an investigation into sustainability issues, such as biological conservation, drinking water, energy production, and waste management.

Students from many disciplines can hone career skills, broaden perspective, and find inspiration at BIOS

BIOS welcomed the first student users of its new high-tech facility known as the MAGIC Room—a room designed to facilitate data analyses, scientific collaboration, and learning among students and visitors from Bermuda and abroad. Students sat at a large, U-shaped table in swivel chairs that pivoted for views of multiple screens, including a multi-screen video wall at the front of the room and an 84-inch high-definition touchscreen on an adjacent wall. As underwater gliders roamed the ocean 50 miles away, students discussed the gliders’ near-real time measurements of oxygen, salinity, current strength, and other incoming physical and chemical data.

This summer, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is offering courses in coral reef ecology and marine larval ecology, with applications due May 15. These three-week-long courses provide opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience using state-of-the-art research methods while studying Bermuda’s unique marine ecosystems.

Kevin Wong grew up in British Columbia, Canada, an area where snowy mountains, deep forests, and a nearby sea suit people like him with a love for the natural world.  He took his enjoyment of the outdoors to college at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, where he intended to study environmental engineering. However, it was after changing majors in his second year—and an auspicious Internet search introduced him to BIOS—that he realized his true passion lay in research aimed at determining the impacts of human activities on the environment.

This summer, BIOS will offer courses in Modern Observational Oceanography, Coral Reef Ecology and a new course: Coral Reef Optics. Each course offers a unique opportunity for students to study abroad and conduct fieldwork in Bermuda’s marine ecosystems. Applications are due April 14. For more information, including how to apply, see the course flyer or visit /education/summer-courses

This month marks the first year that students at Furman University can take the “Oceans and Human Health” (OHH) course at BIOS for their May Experience, an optional three-week term following commencement that allows students to participate in unique academic experiences, including shorter study abroad courses and instruction in research methods. Coordinated by BIOS’s Dr. Andrea Bodnar, the course is offered through the International Center for Ocean and Human Health at BIOS, which was established in 1998 to encourage interdisciplinary research among the ocean and medical sciences.

Since its inception in the 1970s, the Canadian Associates of BIOS (CABIOS) program has provided over a hundred Canadian students and young scientists with financial assistance to pursue oceanographic research or academic coursework at BIOS. Founded by the late Dr. Earlston Doe, a former BIOS Life Trustee and Canadian oceanographer born in Bermuda, the CABIOS fund honors the memory of his youngest son Learmont “Leary” Doe.

From September 23 through 27, Professor Nicholas Bates, senior scientist at BIOS and Dr. Ludger Mintrop, owner of Marianda—a company in Kiel, Germany that specializes in instruments for marine chemistry analysis—co-hosted a first-of-its-kind professional development course in Bermuda.

For the last nine years, students in the Earth Science program at the University of Oxford in England have visited BIOS to gain first-hand knowledge of coastal and deep-water oceanography, as well as the unique geology of Bermuda.