In January, USVI teachers participated in a full-day, in-person professional development workshop titled: Exploring the Deep Ocean With NOAA.

The workshop explored how and why we explore the ocean and the tools and technologies that drive how we conduct expeditions into some of the most remote places on the planet.

Congresswoman Plaskett hosts a Distance Learning Webinar and has reached out to a few of the USVI’s top educators to share their strategies and techniques for distance learning including our own Virgin Island-Institute Science Education Research and Practice (VI-ISERP) Mentor Teacher, Ms. Michealrose Ravalier! As the 2020 St. Thomas District Teacher of the Year, she will offer insights into using home materials in science learning to boost engagement and strategies for leveraging educational technology.

In her second year of study for her Masters of Marine & Environmental Studies degree at the University of the Virgin Islands, Zola Roper’s thesis focuses on marine debris in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a pervasive and important local environmental issue. How did she get here?

The Youth Ocean Explorers program provides a broad overview of a variety of marine career opportunities including oceanography, watershed resource management, marine biology, larval ecology, fisheries science, robotics science, and DNA engineering. It's primary goal is to encourage more local young people to gain interest in and pursue STEM careers.