Two Bermudian students have received the benefit of hands-on experience as part-time paid research interns at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences.

Jihad Muhammad, 22, and Marcus Rewan, 21, were highlighted recently by Bios’s Currents newsletter for their work as part of the institute’s curriculum enrichment programme.

Mr Muhammad first joined Bios in 2021 as part of the Ocean Academy Saturday Intern Programme, which offered Bermuda College students paid internships for contributions to four research projects.

He returned to Bios last summer, working with Amy Maas, a comparative physiologist and biological oceanographer investigating the effects of ocean acidification on pteropods — a group of swimming marine snails.

Mr Muhammad, who is working towards an associates degree in marine biology, said the work at Bios has been a positive experience, and he hopes to be able to go out to sea with a research team this spring.

“I’m able to learn about aspects of the ocean that I’m interested in, as well as meet and work with people that share my enthusiasm in the process,” he said.

Mr Rewan first got involved with Bios in 2013 when he learnt to dive through the institute’s Ocean Academy programme.

He completed his marine science internship in 2017 and returned in 2019 as an intern, working with Rachel Parsons, a microbial oceanographer, who was researching aggregations of organic matter known as “marine snow”.

Mr Rewan was set to start remote courses at Mount Saint Vincent University this month, but is expected to continue working with Ms Parsons until the end of May.

“This is great because I will have the opportunity to work with Rachel and other scientists in the lab gaining more scientific knowledge that I can later implement to help their overall research,” he said.

Mr Rewan added: “Bios has been a hub of scientific knowledge for me since I was young and it has truly made my life much more exciting.

“I constantly share what I learn with others and people are often intrigued. I think every programme at Bios has something interesting and new for people to learn and provides a chance to get hands-on experience with ocean science.”