Some 30 higher school students, teachers of public and subgraduated schools from various university centers and educational entities interested in the oceanic and sea sciences were the protagonists of the third and latest generation of internships of the summer boarding school of the summer of the summer of the Ocean projectan educational initiative has impacted some 105 participants for the past three years.
The project, which is subsidized by the NASA Science Activation ProgramIt has as a approach to educate and train students of eleventh to twelfth grade, and university in their first year of studies, on the study of the oceans, marine ecosystems, coasts, atmosphere, planet Earth and land surfaces, among other topics, with Puerto Rican leaders and scientific experts in the field of ocean and marine sciences on the island.
Oceans is a project led by the NASA AMES REESARCH CENTER In Moffett Field, California, and which was carried out for three consecutive years in Puerto Rico, together with collaborating scientific and educational entities, among these, Inter -American University of Puerto Rico Metropolitan Campus, Department of Marine Sciences of the Mayagüez University Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, Marine Environment Society, Ecological Workshop of Puerto Rico, EcoExploretory: Puerto Rico Science Museum Observ into System (Caricos), University of Miami, Environmental Mapping Consultants and Bay Area Submital Research Institute.
“Oceans provide training opportunities in NASA tools for the study of coastal environments. The idea is that participants become agents of change in their communities and bring the voice about the conservation of marine and coastal resources”he said Juan Torres Pérezleader of the project and scientific researcher at Nasa Ames Research Center, in a statement.
As part of the boarding school, students had the opportunity to develop research work on six main topics, with the mentoring of scientific resources and experts in the field of marine and oceanic sciences. These were: Robotics applications in marine sciences; CDOM tracking through mangles and open sea; Water quality monitoring: a comparative study between slabs and snakes; Television applied to the study of coastal waters in Puerto Rico; Characterization of coral reef biodiversity through field and plankton methods: drifting life in the ocean.
Likewise, students and teachers participated in various workshops and interactive educational activities, among these, workshop on the use of tools for POTas WorldViewto obtain satellite data and images to analyze coast and oceanic water quality; the use and management of remote operated vehicles (ROVS), to characterize coral reefs in high resolution; the coastal water analysis using simple or high -precision instruments; Mangrove systems ecology; plankton ecology in tropical and polar waters; the use of ecological DNA (Edna) to study planktonic communities; Free tools for caricos for monitoring meteorological data.
“Ecoexploretory is the leading entity and the cornerstone of informal education in the field of disciplines Stem In Puerto Rico for the benefit of the thousands of children and young people interested in science ”expressed, on the other hand, Jenny M. GuevaraExecutive Director of the Ecoexploretory, Inc. “It is of the utmost importance to train our present and future generations of young students interested in marine sciences, in order to sow the seed of knowledge to preserve and preserve our marine ecosystems due to the effects of climate change on our planet.”
The interns participated in a closing event where they presented their research work before the scientific community and their relatives as part of the culmination of the Internship Educational Program that ended on June 27. The students and teachers who participated in the initiative received a certificate of hours contact of the ocean project.