An innovative tertiary sea training program casts off on Saturday to make a circumnavigation of Tasmania.
Thirty university students and trainers from across Australia will hone their skills when they take to the seas aboard CSIRO research vessel Investigator as part of the Collaborative Australian Postgraduate Sea-Training Alliance Network (CAPSTAN).
CAPSTAN Director Pier van der Merwe, from the University of Tasmania, said the 10-day voyage addressed a gap in how marine science education was delivered in Australia and would expose marine science students from 16 Australian universities to life and work onboard CSIRO’s advanced ocean research vessel.
Dr van der Merwe said it offered a national approach to applied teaching and learning excellence in marine science and wider science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
He said the sea-going experience was invaluable for developing Australia’s next generation of marine experts.
“Nothing compares with hands-on learning. For future marine scientists, this is where the action happens – where theory is put into practice and where concepts sink in because students can observe the ecosystem with their own eyes.
“They can feel cold wind on their face and relate that to sea surface temperature data streaming into the ship, or experience the sun rise over the horizon and watch photosynthetically active radiation sensors detect that.
“Being at sea is where it all makes sense for marine science students.”
Dr van der Merwe said the voyage would immerse students in the full suite of marine science operations, from atmospheric and oceanographic studies to surveys of deep-sea ecosystems and marine life.
“Students will be involved in seafloor mapping and sediment sampling, and will also participate in the search for a historic shipwreck off the northwest coast of Tasmania.”
He said the voyage, which departs Hobart on Saturday (March 8) and finishes back in Hobart on March.17, was the first in the CAPSTAN program following the completion of a pilot program during 2017 to 2020.
