Eleven students from the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography and the College of the Environment and Life Sciences are spending their spring break this week in Bermuda to study the island's subtropical habitat.
Bermuda is an ideal place to study marine life, due to the lack a nutrients in the water and clear visibility. Students will live at the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences, which is equipped with boats, labs and other necessary resources for the students.
The group will hear guest speakers discuss deep-sea fish, mangrove tree habitats, climate change and invasive species. They will also spend time diving, snorkeling and studying the marine life, both plant and animal, as well as the geology found in the limestone of the island and the plankton and organisms thriving in the island's waters.
Professors Tatiana Rynearson and Chris Lane are the individuals responsible for this unusual class offering.
"The point is for them to learn about the extent of biodiversity on this island in the middle of the ocean, and learn how an ecosystem is shaped," Rynearson said. "What are the factors that influence what ends up living there?
For those seeking more practical studying in Bermuda, there is also a semester-long course.
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