Immersion Courses:
Experiencing Marine Science in Action
Dr. Samantha de Putron, Instructor in Residence
Bermuda's subtropical location in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is ideal for easy access to coral reefs and deep-sea environments, permitting a hands-on
component to BBSR's educational programs
that ensures a unique adventure for visiting marine science students. Their time in Bermuda is a valuable eye-opener to real-life science, and the experience is often well beyond their expectations. For
many students, attending courses at BBSR and working with the faculty in a research environment help to direct them toward careers in the sciences, or to focus their ambitions on a particular field. This is
evident from the very positive reviews of our courses and numerous letters of appreciation received by our education department. "[The program] really changed my perspective on laboratory sciences," wrote
a Duke University student after spending the spring 2004 semester in Bermuda. "I now hope to pursue a future that includes a combination of lab-based research, as well as policy-related research." A student in the 2004 fall semester program
echoed these sentiments, saying, "It was an unforgettable experience and will most definitely be extremely helpful as I pursue marine science further."I was fortunate to begin my marine science career in
Bermuda with an internship that included a summer course studying coral reef ecology. My experiences at BBSR that summer solidified my desire to work toward a doctoral degree in the field of coral reef
research, and I was eager to return to BBSR and Bermuda. I continued to pursue my quest and, after finishing a master's degree in the United Kingdom and subsequently securing funding through grants, I
returned to BBSR in 1998 to conduct the fieldwork for my PhD thesis over the following four years. After receiving my degree in May 2003, I was honored to accept a post as Instructor in
Residence at BBSR and began the adventure of teaching visiting students and mentoring resident students, giving them the experiences that I myself enjoyed at BBSR. My goal is always to inspire them to learn
and appreciate marine science. I am now involved in teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses at BBSR throughout the year. Along with fellow faculty members and visiting instructors, I teach specific
areas of marine science that are relevant to my areas of expertise. The undergraduate students who enroll in BBSR's spring and fall semesters, part of study-abroad programs operated by our partner
universities in the United States, are usually in the third year of their bachelor's degrees and are 20 to 23 years of age. After spending either a full or half-semester at BBSR, they return to their home
institutions to complete their third year and then continue onto a fourth year of study before graduation. The majority of these students are pursuing degrees in biology, marine science or environmental
science, or participating in joint biology degree programs. They arrive at BBSR with some experience in biology and ecology and bring a desire to focus on specific areas of marine science while at BBSR,
building on that previous knowledge. Many of BBSR's courses include intensive research components, as either individual or class projects, which are ideal for this type of student. In 2004, I taught
undergraduate-level courses in marine ecology and coral reef ecology, both integrated courses comprising lectures, required reading, laboratory exercises and field surveys. In all of BBSR's courses, the
participants are actively encouraged to incorporate their knowledge from the lectures into the development of hands-on field and laboratory skills during the practical components of the programs. In
addition, the students quickly learn the practicalities of conducting real-life science, with schedules that frequently shift because of unpredictable weather and temperamental research subjects. Class
size at BBSR is usually limited to a boat and laboratory capacity of 18 students. As an instructor, I enjoy teaching at this personalized level, which allows a great deal of interaction with the students,
something I suspect is often missed when teaching to an audience of a hundred or more students in a large university survey class. The nature of the fieldwork in our courses, combined with the small campus
life at BBSR and the personalized feel of the relatively small classes, makes studying in Bermuda a dramatically different experience. "This was an incredible learning experience, not only academically
but about life and scientific research in general," wrote a 2004 coral reef ecology student in a course evaluation. "I never would have had the opportunity to experience half of the things at my home
university that I have here at BBSR," said a fall semester student. "I learned so much, more than I ever have in one semester." During June 2004, I co-instructed a three-week summer course
on coral reef ecology that was attended by both graduate and undergraduate students. In contrast to the undergraduate semester programs where the participants come to BBSR to take two or more courses concurrently, our summer course students immerse themselves in one course at a time. The students who take part in BBSR's summer courses attend because they are either already actively studying the course subject or they are preparing to pursue a graduate degree in that field. The atmosphere of the summer courses is therefore different from that of the semester programs; they are taken to a higher level of intensity, commitment and enthusiasm. The students spend all hours of the day together — at breakfast, in class, in the field and lab, at dinner, and then back in the lab for the evening or at group study sessions in the library.
As the course draws to a close each year, I tell the students we are sure to meet each other again in the international field of coral reef ecology. I was very encouraged when I did indeed meet several
former BBSR students making presentations at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Okinawa, Japan, in 2004. Many past students have also returned to Bermuda to participate in other summer courses, to
conduct their graduate research or, like me, to join the BBSR staff as the next generation of scientists and teachers.
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