Stone Soup Projects: Using real-time resources and creative partnering to meet multiple needs

Ocean Networks Canada oversees the VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada undersea cabled observatories. Its Centre for Enterprise and Engagement communicates the scientific discoveries and technological innovations happening at the two systems. Not surprisingly, funders in ocean science are interested in seeing evidence of increased recruitment of Highly Qualified Personnel into marine science and industry. This demand creates a series of opportunities for inspiring students, ranging from graduate school down to middle school, to pursue studies in chemistry, biology, physics, geology, engineering, and beyond. As the Engagement section is a small operation, we partner with others to produce educational assets incorporating real-time data from VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada observatories that enable frontline educators to create exciting ocean science experiences for students and the public. In one project, the lab component of an entire undergraduate course lets students conduct their own investigations into marine oxygen levels by using VENUS data. In another, Fine Arts graduate and undergraduate students are using high-tech tools to create a series of webisodes that map the principles of Ocean Literacy onto the science themes of VENUS and NEPTUNE Canada. In a third project, we hosted a website for a collaborative expedition to small coastal towns that focused on the marine science happening in the Salish Sea, British Columbia. Our projects and challenges for engaging students and the public with ocean science using real-time and other data offer strategies for outreach and education sections of similar organizations.