When the ongoing pandemic scuttled Maya Leighton’s plans this fall to attend a university overseas, she instead enrolled for a year at Bermuda College. There, a professor noted Leighton’s commitment to marine sciences and suggested a unique opportunity. How about spending Saturdays at BIOS, learning about coral reefs, marine microplastics, plankton, and mangrove restoration on island?

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

Since its beginning in 1903 as a field station for students and scientists at Harvard University and New York University, BIOS has hosted hundreds of students from colleges and universities around the world. Over the years, students conducting research at BIOS have used their experiences as springboards for acceptance into graduate degree programs, a variety of technical and research positions (both at BIOS and abroad), and—frequently—a scientific publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

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.

In 1991, a group of undergraduate students arrived in Bermuda to spend a semester with BIOS faculty and staff who mentored their independent marine science research projects. The program, known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates, or REU, was designed to provide a semester-long, rigorous research experience enhanced by field trips on land and at sea. Since then, nearly 200 university students have participated on a variety of projects, with themes ranging from climate change to coral reef ecology. Their work culminates in a final, formal presentation to BIOS faculty and staff.

Last month a group of 39 P6 (primary school level 6, or grade 5 in the U.S. school system) students from Harrington Sound Primary School spent three days and two nights at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), where they learned about the local marine environment and potential career paths in ocean science research, technology, and education.

Student Hannah Reich spent the summer at BIOS conducting coral reef fieldwork for her master’s thesis with mentor Gretchen Goodbody-Gringley, assistant scientist at BIOS. Professor Todd Livdahl, who travels to Bermuda every other year with a team of students studying at BIOS, also investigates mosquito species and to observes the island’s efforts to control them.

Bermudians know that invasive lionfish like to eat their native fish, and that they gobble them in huge numbers. What they don’t know yet is the full range of the lionfish invasion, though increasing evidence shows that lionfish aren’t afraid to go deep for their meals.

On Friday, January 15th, 110 students, parents and teachers convened at BIOS to place a call to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, as part of the 2016 MARINE program. Engineer and explorer Bob Zook was on the other end of the line to share how his work with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) helps scientists to explore greater depths and remote regions of the world, like the dynamic Antarctic ecosystems hidden beneath thick sea ice.

BIOS research initiatives and education programs were the topic of a recent episode of “Ocean Hour,” the online education series produced by the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI). The third episode of the program, which aired on the organization’s Facebook page on October 9, featured an interview with Lakshmi Magon, a 2018 BIOS Bermuda Program intern and a 2020 BIOS Ocean Academy intern.