For many students, especially during their undergraduate college years, the difference between thinking about potential careers and knowing what career they want to pursue boils down to one thing: experience.

The PartnerRe “Dollars for Hours: Youth & Community in Partnership” program recently celebrated its eighth year of matching students from local schools with local charities to work on a variety of community projects. Under this unique partnership, each participating school receives $30,000 to be put toward classroom upgrades, scholarship funds, IT equipment, and other infrastructure projects and student support programs.

Since the inception of the Bermuda Program in 1976, more than 150 young Bermudians have taken part in the annual summer internship at BIOS, and many apply their experiences toward university studies in science, as well as science-based careers.

Three students who have worked as interns with BIOS microbiologist Rachel Parsons since 2016 will present their research findings this month at the Ocean Sciences meeting in Portland, Oregon.

Twenty-eight teams from 10 Bermuda schools and educational organizations, including two new teams from Bermuda College, will converge on the National Sports Centre on March 25 for the 2018 Marine Advanced Technology in Education (MATE) Bermuda Regional Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Challenge. The program, hosted by BIOS, is part of the Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program, with lead donor support from HSBC.

A new, week-long “Ocean Science Camp” at BIOS will provide an introduction to Bermuda’s marine life while also building a scientific foundation to encourage long-term curiosity about the ocean. Over the course of the week, students will have the opportunity to participate in snorkel training and research-based field trips aboard BIOS vessels to explore mangrove, sea grass, and coral reef environments. In a nod to the collaborative nature of science, students will work as a team on activities and projects that are focused on research being conducted at BIOS.

Nestled between the 75 vertical miles (120 kilometers) of Earth’s atmosphere and the deepest point of the ocean is a strip of air called the planetary boundary layer. This region, located in the lower troposphere (the lowest portion of the atmosphere, up to six miles, or 10 kilometers, in altitude), is where friction from the earth’s surface influences temperature, moisture, and wind.

It’s not every day that you meet a high school student who already has three summers of scientific research, as well as a poster presentation at a professional scientific conference, under his belt. But Luke Stewart isn’t your average student.

Primary students at Saltus Upper Primary School and Somersfield Academy gained an early introduction to ocean science in January through in-school presentations from two BIOS scientists. The presentations, part of BIOS’s Curriculum Enrichment Program, supported local teachers who wanted to enhance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content in their classrooms through immersive experiences with their students.

While the first week of January means a return to school for many, students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland can spend time between the fall and spring semesters taking intensive courses as part of the University’s “Intersession” program.