Prodigy program students will each have the opportunity to attend up to two annual summer field schools. Each one-week field school will provide an opportunity for participants to build upon the principles learned within the Ocean Data Course. Focus will be split between development and deployment of modern oceanographic sensor packages, and working with the resulting data.
Inaugural Prodigy Summer Field School Participants: Quadra Island, BC, Canada – May 2022
Learning Objectives:
- Place observations into spatial and temporal context using previous literature, satellite observations, model results etc.
- Students and instructors come together for a range of in-person, hands-on activities.
Past and Future Field School Locations:
Field Schools hosted at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre (BMSC)
Prodigy students have the opportunity to hone their skills in ocean data collection and management at the remote Bamfield Marine Science Centre (BMSC) education and research facility located within British Columbia’s beautiful Barkley Sound. This past summer, our students travelled to the BMSC to participate in Prodigy’s annual week long summer field school. The program offered an immersive, hands-on experience in which the students participated in the installation and configuration of a variety of modern, cutting-edge oceanographic sensors within the newly renovated Pacific Ecosystem Autonomous Research Laboratory (PEARL); a novel seaside research facility located on the BMSC campus. A custom-built, continuous flow through sensors package installed within the PEARL lab provides real-time oceanographic data collection and observation, allowing us to monitor rapid temporal changes to the marine conditions within a unique and dynamic coastal environment.
The Pacific Ecosystem Autonomous Research Laboratory (PEARL), Bamfield, BC, Canada
A live selection of the oceanographic and ambient weather data collected using the PEARL lab’s new facilities can be accessed by following the link below:
Future research conducted at the BMSC PEARL lab will focus on quantifying physical mixing processes, primary productivity, ocean deoxygenation, acidification and the cycling of climate-active trace gases. The PEARL lab and other research and teaching facility available at the BMSC will be an integral part of the Prodigy field school program moving forward. These resources offer students an opportunity to gain real world technological and data management skills within and unique and beautiful oceanographic environment.
For more information about the state of the art facilities and world class research taking place at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre click the link below
