Now in its 49th year, the Bermuda Program gives young Bermudians hands-on opportunities to contribute to ocean and environmental research

ASU BIOS’s 2025 Ocean Academy summer programs

A former Bermuda High School pupil was announced yesterday as Bermuda’s Rhodes scholar for this year.

Each year a handful of Bermudian students are selected to participate in the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences [BIOS] Bermuda Program, which offers an excellent experience to work alongside top experts in the field.

The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), a unit of Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and School of Ocean Futures at Arizona State University, has announced funding support for deep-sea research and education training for Bermudians. The funding is led by a charitable grant from the Global Atlantic Re foundation, which is sponsored by Global Atlantic Financial Group (Global Atlantic), a leading insurance company meeting the retirement and life insurance needs of individuals and institutions.

A world-class ocean science research facility, the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) inspires the next generation of marine biologists, oceanographers, marine ecologists and more by providing K-12 and college students a captivating introduction to the science of the ocean. BIOS is now expanding its impact, joining Arizona State University as part of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory™. BIOS brings over 120 years of research and education on Earth’s largest biome to the world’s first laboratory dedicated to reshaping our relationship with our planet.

Through the generous support of a philanthropic sponsor, two BIOS Bermuda Program alumni are continuing to develop valuable scientific laboratory techniques and research skills outside of the Institute’s annual summer internship program. Jihad Muhammad, 22, and Marcus Rewan, 21, are working as part-time research interns through the BIOS Curriculum Enrichment Program.

In early August, four researchers representing three international scientific and education institutions converged at BIOS to begin field and experimental work for an investigation into coral resilience. Funded by a grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation International, Ltd., this research will build on the results of a previous project, supported by the same donor, that highlighted the importance of environmental history in long-term coral survival.

Not many people can say their selection of a university degree program was largely influenced by electrical wire and pieces of PVC pipe. But for An Mei Daniels, 18, a second-year student in the University of Exeter’s (U.K.) Integrated Masters in Natural Sciences program, it’s true. Her passion for science was discovered by way of a robotics club that she joined during her first year at Warwick Academy, a Bermuda-based secondary school.

While some students begin high school with solid career goals in mind, others are trying to identify their interests and align them with potential academic majors or occupations. The BIOS Ocean Science Camp (OSC) was created in 2018 to help engage and support this latter group of students. OSC is a snorkel-based summer camp geared toward students between the ages of 12 and 15 who are interested in the ocean, but may not have had previous opportunities to study marine science.