Place-based learning and community partnerships in marine science education: A coastal Canadian perspective

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC), an initiative of the University of Victoria, is a major research facility that supports ocean monitoring infrastructure and initiatives along Canada’s three oceans. Since 2009, ONC has operated NEPTUNE (North East Pacific Time-series Underwater Networked Experiments), a subsea, cabled observatory deployed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of British Columbia. More than 800 kilometres of internet-connected fibre optic cable power scientific instruments allowing for remote, real-time data monitoring and observing of ocean conditions.NEPTUNE’s most near-shore and shallowest node is located in Folger Passage, close to Bamfield, a proximity that has helped support scientific research, secondary and post-secondary education, and service collaborations between ONC and the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) for many years.Since 2023, these collaborations have included incorporating ONC’s Community Fishers (CF) training into post-secondary oceanography courses at BMSC. Established in 2015, the CF program partners with coastal First Nation and Inuit communities and other organizations to build comprehensive marine monitoring programs that meet the needs of communities and science. By expanding CF training into post-secondary courses, students receive experience with marine sensor technologies and benefit from the skills development, class and field instruction, and support needed to collect, manage and access high-quality oceanographic datasets. Each participant receives a certificate from CIFAL Victoria, a training centre governed by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITaR), on completion of the program.Together, such educational partnerships help establish time-series data sets for learning and research, as well as foster collaborations with instructors and researchers in the natural and social sciences, each working at the local level while contributing to a global understanding of rapidly changing marine ecosystems and coastal communities. The anticipated deployment by ONC of a coastal community observatory at BMSC by early 2027 will further expand these opportunities.