Oceans and Climate is ideal for upper-level science students to help them develop their understanding of the ocean’s role in climate dynamics and to build their tool kit in research, data visualization, and science communication. Students interested in exploring the ocean’s role in the global carbon cycle and climate system, as well as investigating the history, challenges and uncertainties of climate-related policies from local to international are encouraged to apply.

Understanding climate change and its associated impacts is the critical scientific challenge of today, and the timely application of this knowledge to public policy is crucial to the future of our planet. Our oceans are at the forefront of these changes but remain some of the least understood parts of the global climate system.

This intensive semester invites upper-level science students to develop their understanding of the oceans’ role in climate dynamics and to build their tool-kit in research, data visualization, and science communication; skills all climate scientists must have in order to be effective advocates for our oceans.

You will conduct baseline climate research on this long sailing passage, and the potential projects open for investigation are diverse. Our voyage comprises an extended blue-water transect from Fiji to Aotearoa New Zealand, allowing you to explore a range of ecosystems each characterized by distinctive biological communities and complex and dynamic current systems. The transfer of carbon through the coupled ocean/atmosphere system is influenced by many attributes we can investigate, so our voyage track becomes an excellent natural laboratory for studying almost all aspects of oceanic carbon cycling. You’ll leave this program with skills that will put you ahead in the field of climate change research and communication.

Skills Gained

Primary literature analysis
Proposal development
Data interpretation and visualization
Communication of science for the general public