High school students were engaged in workshops at the High School Marine Science Symposium on March 19, 2009. Researchers and educators from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, UMass Dartmouth Marine Science Research Center, National Marine Life Center, and the Sea Education Association, among others participated. Workshops offered ranged from whale song to marine safety to deep sea diving.

Ocean Explorium staff members Jennifer Costa and Dave Welty presented at the symposium. While Jack Crowley, Explorium staff member and executive director of the Massachusetts Marine Educators, facilitated the event. Dave Welty presented “Greenhouse Gases and Heat Transfer,” a workshop on climate change. Jennifer Costa’s session “Plankton: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” covered the positive aspects of algae for its role in creating oxygen and its negative effects on marine life when there are harmful algal blooms. If you’d like to learn more about harmful algal blooms come in to the Ocean Explorium any Saturday from. 10-4 pm.

The annual symposium drew 300 students from schools in New Bedford, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Provincetown, Bourne and Mashpee. It was co-sponsored by UMass Dartmouth, the New Bedford ECHO project, and Massachusetts Marine Educators.

Two students from the symposium attending Costa's "Plankton: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" presentation are featured in an article in the New Bedford Standard Times.  They are doing an experiment that demonstrates nutrient loading and the creation of harmful algal bloom (HAB).

Read more about the Symposium in the New Bedford Standard Times >>