The education program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute started in 1997 as one of the objectives of the newly created Information and Technology Dissemination Division.
Central to our education program is the 10 week MBARI summer internship program. Interns work closely with MBARI mentors on specific projects and receive a stipend. Applicants must be teachers, college undergraduates, or graduate students. Past intern projects are posted online. Information for the 2010 internship program is now posted. Applications are due by February 10th, 2010 and decisions will be made by March.
MBARI and the Monterey Bay Aquarium are currently in the midst of a long-term teacher workshop program entitled Education And Research: Testing Hypotheses (EARTH). EARTH is designed to facilitate the use of real-time and near-real-time data in the classrooms. If you are interested in trying some of the lesson plans or activities, please take some time to fill out the assessment rubric so that we can continue to improve our efforts. Information about the 2009 Summer EARTH workshop, which was held the week of July 22nd, can be found on the web. The 2010 Summer EARTH workshop will be held the week of July 11.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) also runs a series of teacher institutes and other activities. You can find out more about these programs on the MBA's web. They include their annual teacher open house, the Dynamic Cycles Teacher Institute, the Splash Zone Institute, and the Coastal Systems Teacher Institute. Applications can also be found on the MBA web (see links above).
MBARI's seminar program has regularly scheduled seminars on Wednesdays at 3 pm. Most seminars are open to the public.
One of the Summer 2000 interns (Greg Moretti) put together a set of cruise pages that follow MBARI research vessels during expeditions. Ship schedules and daily updates are posted from scientists when they are at sea for extended periods of time.
MBARI's extremely talented staff has generated some exceptional web pages that can be used for educational purposes. Please remember that the information contained on these pages is for educational use only. Contact the author of the page or George I. Matsumoto for any other use. We have also provided links to some additional web sites that we hope might be useful to educators.
MBARI's postdoctoral program accepts applicants for two year positions. The call for applications is in November with notifications in March.
Challenges of the Deep video - this short video (approximately 15 minutes) uses stunning undersea footage from MBARI’s remotely-operated vehicles to teach students about the various challenges that midwater and deep-sea organisms face, and the adaptations they have developed in order to survive in this inhospitable environment. Teachers and other educators can order the DVD from MBARI for use in the classroom.
In collaboration with the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) center, MBARI is a loaning center for the C-MORE science kits. These kits were developed by C-MORE scientists and educators and can be borrowed from MBARI (depending on availability). Teachers are responsible for picking up and dropping off the kits as well as for maintaining the kits in good working condition.