Ocean Solutions

Spend each day in the field and laboratory collecting data on the state of the coast and ocean.  Investigate relevant and controversial oceanic topics including climate change, sea-level rise, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, coral bleaching, dead zones, harmful algal blooms, marine debris, overfishing, and more.

What will students explore and discover?

• Meet marine scientists from different fields of research.
• Participate in an ocean research cruise and use professional oceanographic tools.
• Examine how best management practices benefit coastal water quality.
• Kayak in a sensitive coastal habitat and witness first-hand the impact of anthropogenic changes.
• Investigate the impact climate change has on coastal and ocean systems through field and lab research.

Join MarineQuest for an engineering experience inspired by nature! Biomimicry is the practice of mimicking strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges.

During this week of Ocean Solutions, students will practice biomimicry as they learn about processes occurring in our coastal and ocean zones, explore marine organism adaptations, research biological products and investigate how these can help solve human issues. They'll look to marine organisms for inspiration as they design solutions to modern engineering challenges such as water scarcity, clean energy, and coastal resiliency.

What will students explore and discover?

• Understand that biomimicry is a paradigm shift in how humans relate to nature.
• Define human challenges identified by the UN as part of the decade of the ocean, as well as some of the Grand Challenges of Engineering.
• Explore the coastal zone and observe marine organisms in their habitats.
• Investigate nature inspired ways to harness blue energy, clean and desalinate water, and sequester carbon.
• Test the effectiveness of biomimetically inspired products on the market.

The ocean provides solutions for many of society’s most pressing problems. Globally, there is a need for clean energy, fresh water, food security, and new medicines.

We need to sequester carbon to reduce global temperatures, balance nitrogen to reduce dead zones in the ocean, and monitor the ocean. And we need to improve infrastructure to build coastal resiliency.

Each of these problems represents a different sector within the blue economy. The blue economy is the sustainable use of the ocean in ways that equitably benefit all of society. That means we don’t create more problems for the ocean while we use it to solve our own!

Sectors that will be addressed in this week of ocean solutions include blue energy, seawater desalination, aquaculture and sustainable fisheries, marine biotechnology, marine construction, and ocean monitoring. By weeks end you’ll be a part of the solution and not the problem.

What will students explore and discover?

• Meet marine scientists and representatives from the different sectors of the Blue Economy.
• Use oceanographic tools during a research cruise to collect data for ocean monitoring.
• Discover marine products with pharmaceutical potential and learn the process for bringing them to market at a renowned facility for biotech.
• Learn how the blue economy sectors reflect the Grand Challenges for Engineering.
• Use siting tools to determine viable locations for establishing aquaculture facilities.
• Explore the beach zone on a boogie board, kayak in coastal systems, and understand the ecosystem services of the salt marsh through fun hands-on scientific investigations and discussions.