For a possible ENLIGHT Thematic Networks application, we are looking for scientists from the University of Bordeaux or the Basque Country or other partners working on or willing to work on marine education.
Tags: Education, Ecology, Marine Sciences
Dr. Oksana Kavatsyuk and dr. Laura Kapinga work at the University College Groningen, University of Groningen (Netherlands). They teach in the BSc Liberal Arts and Science, where inter/multidisciplinarity and project-oriented are central components of the curriculum. Oksana is a physicist, and Laura's background is in cultural geography. Together they developed a first-year marine-related course ‘This is the Sea: Marine Challenges and Ocean Literacy’. In the course, they make use of principles of challenged-based learning and demonstrate the value of approaching complex marine-related issues from multiple disciplines.
Prof. dr. Ann Vanreusel, Prof. dr. Ellen Pape and Dr. Claudia Delgado are part of the Marine Biology Research Group of Ghent University. This research group is working on a broad spectrum of research topics going from polar ecology, ecological and functional "omics" to deep-seabed mining environmental impacts (for an overview of the main research pillars, see https://www.marinebiology.ugent.be/index.php/research-pillars). In addition, this group strongly invests in education and training through their involvement in traditional bachelor and master programmes (incl. the coordination of the International Master of Science in Marine Biological Resources), but also in Lifelong learning initiatives (see also, https://www.marinebiology.ugent.be/index.php/lifelong-learning). The Marine Training Unit activities also include providing support to projects with a training component, besides providing tailored training for the EMBRC ERIC (https://www.embrc.eu/).
Considering potential collaborations for an ENLIGHT thematic network we see opportunities in, for instance, developing an online course together, a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) for ocean literacy for audiences that are new to marine issues (e.g. marine literacy for political science students and professionals), and doing educational-driven research and/or research in collaboration with students connected to marine-related themes. We are also open to other ideas.