Opportunities

Three to four undergraduate and graduate students in the US have the opportunity to gain international research experience at the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Zanzibar, Tanzania for two months during one summer from 2009 to 2011. This opportunity is funded by a NSF/OISE IRES grant (Grants and Contributions).

At IMS in Zanzibar, students have the opportunity to carry out two different types of research projects. One is on further developing a Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) model of the dynamics of the Zanzibar Channel with the aim of producing an annual cycle that resembles as closely as possible the real annual cycle. The other is on making oceanographic measurements in the Zanzibar Channel using an ADCP and a CTD and producing datasets from these measurements so that they can be used to improve the model. Besides these two research focuses, students have the opportunity to develop an understanding of the wider environmental context of their research. This means understanding the wider scientific, social, and economic aspects of issues, such as pollution, beach erosion, and the health of coral reefs, that the overall modeling effort at IMS in Zanzibar is expected to address in the future. The two types of projects and their wider environmental context are described in more detail in section "Originally Proposed Research" in Research.

To benefit from the above opportunities most effectively, students will be prepared for their time in Zanzibar as soon as they are selected and closely supervised while in Zanzibar. The preparation includes involving the students' advisors at their home institutions in order to achieve in particular that their projects in Zanzibar will become an integral part of their studies and research at their home institution. There will also be a four-day preparation meeting at Theiss Research in La Jolla, CA. At IMS in Zanzibar, the students work in a team and are supervised by local research staff and Dr. Javier Zavala-Garay at Rutgers University, who will with the students during their time in Zanzibar. These educational aspects are further described in section "Originally Proposed Education" in Education.

Students also have the opportunity to benefit from the growing network of partnerships as well as advisors and supporters (Network).