The BIOS Bermuda Program was conceived in 1976 as an effort to increase interest among young Bermudians in careers in the marine sciences. The design of the program today remains largely the same, providing a handful of promising students, ages 18 and older, with stipends to work alongside BIOS scientists each summer on research projects in marine and atmospheric sciences.

Forty public school teachers took part in two-day training at BIOS in late October as part of the 2017 Bermuda Union of Teachers annual professional development conference. The workshop, offered under the Mid-Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program, introduced participants to components of the beginner Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) competition, including the construction of simple circuits and soldering.

Registration opened Oct. 1 for middle school team participation in the popular Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Challenge, sponsored by the Mid Atlantic Robotics IN Education (MARINE) program. This year’s program, hosted by BIOS, will become a regional partner with the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE), which challenges students to apply physics, math, electronics, and engineering lessons to the marine environment.

Like to snorkel? Interested in supporting emerging marine engineers? Volunteers from BIOS and the Bermuda community are needed to assist on Saturday, April 30th as 33 teams of middle school students test their mission-tasked Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) during an island-wide robotics challenge.

Bermudian Tiana Outerbridge first learned about marine plastics washing up on coastal shores and harming marine life from a Netflix documentary, which she said left her “totally dismayed” and feeling like “we must make a better effort of taking care of the earth.” She found that opportunity this month, when BIOS educators offered local residents a chance to pitch in and learn more about ocean microplastics, pulverized plastic pieces smaller than cupcake sprinkles. As a pollutant, these accumulated bits can harm aquatic life and, potentially, human health.

Every time science researchers conduct an experiment at sea or make measurements in a lab, they gather tens of thousands of data points. Collectively, these tell a story of the places, organisms, and communities scientists study and the research questions they are addressing.

Like to snorkel? Interested in supporting emerging marine engineers? Several dozen volunteers from BIOS and the Bermuda community are needed to assist on Saturday, April 22, as 27 teams of middle school students test their mission-tasked Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) during the annual island-wide robotics challenge.

On October 12 and 13, BIOS debuted a new classroom education module focused on the water cycle and weather in Lisa Siese’s P6 classroom at Somerset Primary. The module is part of the Institute’s Curriculum Enrichment Program, which is designed to enhance science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) instruction in local classrooms by bringing immersive experiences and hands-on activities to teachers and students.

This September, BIOS is debuting a new citizen science program designed to encourage Bermuda’s residents and visitors to engage with the natural environment by collecting data from around the island. By utilizing an array of online tools and apps, and working alongside BIOS educators, people have the opportunity to directly contribute to ongoing research at BIOS and local conservation efforts.

Priel Minors, 16, a senior school student at Cedarbridge Academy, was chosen by educators at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) and ConnecTech, to participate in a weeklong “BioCoding at Home” course offered virtually by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center. BIOS’s Ocean Academy provided a scholarship to cover the cost of the course while ConnecTech provided work space and coding support.