The NCCOS Cooperative Oxford Laboratory in Oxford, Maryland, hosted students enrolled in the summer-long Geosciences Bridge Program, funded by the National Science Foundation and the NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES).
The program introduces students entering college in the fall to ocean sciences, atmospheric sciences, remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GIS). Activities provided by NCCOS staff included a competition to build the least expensive, highest payload buoy; observing oyster larvae under blue light to observe growth markers; seeing mapping techniques to identify benthic habitats; and applying social science and GIS to decide where to place a marine sanctuary.