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.

In April, the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP), the longest running deep ocean time-series of its kind, marked its 40th year of operation. Since 1978, the OFP’s three sediment traps have continuously sampled sinking particulate debris, called particle flux, at depths of 1,640; 4,900; and 10,500 feet (500; 1,500; and 3,200 meters) at a location about 45 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda.

Oceanographer Kristen Buck has been spared the gender discrimination faced by her female predecessors, who until the 1960s were often restricted from science labs, kept from leadership positions, or prohibited from sailing on research vessels.

As scientists work to answer progressively complex questions about the earth and its changing climate, they are becoming more aware of the importance of communicating their findings to the public. To improve the likelihood that their messages are heard, understood, and made accessible, they are increasingly turning to art.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists, including a group from BIOS, spent six weeks this summer focused on the Pacific Ocean to study the lives and deaths of plankton, organisms that play a critical role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and in the ocean’s carbon cycle.

We have known for decades that scientists can learn about local climate conditions by studying the growth rings in trees. Wide rings form in warmer years with more precipitation; thinner rings indicate a colder, dryer growing season; and scars provide evidence of external environmental factors, such as forest fires and insect infestations.

Each spring, BIOS is one of more than 350 colleges, universities, medical centers, professional organizations, and research institutions that accepts undergraduate students as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. For more than 30 years, the REU program has given U.S. students the opportunity to conduct hands-on research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields as part of their undergraduate education.

Late last month, a four-day research cruise on the Sargasso Sea gave two local educators and a senior school student the opportunity to gain unique insight into what it means to live and breathe science aboard a working research vessel. The cruise was part of a project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) investigating the daily migrations of small marine zooplankton called copepods.

Pteropods, which live in all the world’s oceans, are tiny cousins of the snail that spend their lives swimming in open water and serving as a primary food source for larger marine life, including salmon, sharks, and whales. With their delicate shells, pteropods are also in peril from increases in ocean acidity, said biologist Amy Maas, a champion for pteropods. The changing ocean chemistry caused by burning fossil fuels is reducing the mineral that pteropods use to build their shells, causing slower shell growth and rendering them weak and fragile.

In mid-May artist Samm Newton drew the tubular mouthpiece, transparent shell, and delicate swimming foot of a heteropod from the Sargasso Sea, a type of tiny sea snail studied by BIOS biologist Amy Maas and collaborator David Murphy from the University of South Florida. Newton spent several hours repeatedly watching the video to reconstruct the creature’s anatomy. Her sketches will form the base of a series of much larger acrylic paintings destined for an upcoming Oregon-based art exhibit.