Training initiative launched in Atlantic Ocean
For Early Career Ocean Professionals, training opportunities are crucial for career development, especially while at sea.
Peter Keen (MIMarEST), Director of Keen Marine Ltd, and Luis Menezes Pinheiro, Professor of Marine Geophysics at the University of Aveiro, have teamed up to further develop the All-Atlantic Floating University Network (@SeaNetwork), an initiative launched in December 2022.
As a university professor, training the next generation of marine professionals is certainly a topic Pinheiro, who coordinates and founded @SeaNetwork, is passionate about.
“A long time ago, we took part for 11 years in the IOC Training Through Research Programme, supported by UNESCO, in which researchers from various countries did many joint research cruises and trained onboard several hundred students, many of who are now scientists in highly reputed institutions,” explains Pinheiro. “[Today] there are many training programmes all across the Atlantic, but many of them are still disconnected.”
Forming the @SeaNetwork, an “ocean science diplomacy initiative uniting countries from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean”, allows connections to build and fosters cooperation and coordination between training initiatives.
“The idea is to bring together these training programmes, share experiences, and see how, together, we can promote more opportunities for training at sea for young people from the Atlantic, involving relevant sectors, geographies, cultures and generations,” Pinheiro states.
After just two years, @SeaNetwork is sailing in the right direction. To date, 41 institutions, including universities, hydrographic offices, state laboratories, ocean foundations, and international programmes and platforms from 27 countries from all over the Atlantic, have become members.
While some members already offered berths for trainees, all have been sharing best practices, knowledge, and experience.
A network for all
A key goal for @SeaNetwork is to become as multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral, intergenerational, and multicultural as possible. With the network having strong representation from the research sectors, Pinheiro is particularly eager to include more members from the maritime industry: “Having the views from the maritime sector on what type of training could be important, how they could help the network, and sharing their visions, will be really valuable.”
Helping to bring that maritime perspective is Keen, whose involvement began at a somewhat serendipitous encounter at the 2022 MTF (Music Tech Fest) Labs event.
“It’s a programme that some friends of mine run in Europe where they bring together artists, scientists, and others to work together on different themes. They’ve been particularly interested in the ocean, so I got invited down there, and Luis was there, and the next thing we’re trying to make water dance with sound waves,” remembers Keen.
Once the subject of @SeaNetwork came up, Keen immediately saw the value for the maritime industry and potential connections with IMarEST. “The thing that really interests me about this whole programme is that it’s not just for scientific people, but also for engineers, it's also for technicians. It goes across the whole gamut. Not only do they get that experience at sea, but they also form friendships and associations that we hope would extend into their later professional lives,” he states.
Keen is now helping to facilitate connections between @SeaNetwork and the maritime sector. Nevertheless, both Keen and Pinheiro recognise that commercial maritime sectors operate with very different models to research institutions. “There are some unique challenges, but I think [joining @SeaNetwork] would be a breath of fresh air for the maritime industry,” concludes Keen, adding there are already discussions between @SeaNetwork and some surveying companies.
“It is a learning process, but it will be really good to discuss fertilisation between the different sectors,” finishes Pinheiro.
Learn more about how institutions, organisations, and private sector companies can become members of @SeaNetwork, or about shipboard training.
Tell us what you think about this article by joining the discussion on IMarEST Connect.
Newsletter image: Ghent University cruise; credit @SeaNetwork.
Main image: Atlantic Ocean waves in Tenerife, Spain; credit: Shutterstock.
