At the end of May 2015 the course "Oceanography at Sea: An Introduction to Practical Aspects of Oceanography" will be carried out on board R/V Dana, DTU’s largest research vessel. The course will take place during a five day research cruise from Tromsø, Norway to Hirtshals, Denmark.
During the cruise 18 master-and ph.d.-students from all over Europe will have a chance to get first hand experience with ocean research at sea. The course is composed of a combination of lectures, laboratory work and practical sampling/measurements, and interpretation of oceanographic data.
“Modern ocean science is truly multidisciplinary representing an overlap between biology, chemistry, geology and physics and all four areas will be covered in the course,” explains course coordinator Colin Stedmon, Associate Professor at DTU Aqua:
“There has been an overwhelming interest in participating in this course. We had 195 applications for the 18 places available. This is the third time that DTU Aqua coordinates such an initiative in conjunction with one of Danas transit trips between research and monitoring cruises. Past experience has indicated that it is a huge motivating factor for students and a great opportunity for them to gain valuable hands on experience with research and monitoring at sea.”
On board students will work in teams and rotate between sampling themes: including biology, chemistry, geology and physics. In the evenings lectures will be given on the oceanography of the region. Analysis and interpretation of the measurements made and data collected will begin on board and continue in the days directly after the cruise. The course will end with a poster presentation based on the data collected on the 2nd of June..
RV Dana sails from Tromsø, Norway on the 24th of May 2015 and arrives in Hirtshals, Denmark on the 29th of May 2015.
The course is funded by the European Commission through the Eurofleets2-programme.