Workforce development for the blue economy: Rutgers masters in integrated ocean observing

The global need for sustainable development has never been greater. Solutions to provide food, water, energy and economic security to a growing global population that is increasingly coastal will necessarily involve the ocean. Every coastal country should be able to monitor their own waters, share their data as appropriate, and respond to actionable forecasts and information that supports a sustainable and resilient blue economy. This will require a new workforce trained in the operation of new ocean observing technologies capable of widespread distribution that can broaden participation by all nations. Towards this end, Rutgers University has developed a new Operational Masters in Integrated Ocean Observing to bridge the training gap between Ph.D. scientists and efforts to develop an ocean-literate public. The 15-month program begins with a summer software bootcamp to spin-up a common toolkit for data access. The fall and spring semesters feature 2-semester course sequences in (a) Integrated Ocean Observatories, (b) an Ocean Observing Field and Laboratory course, and (c) an Ocean Observing Cyber Lab. The capstone is an operational Masters thesis that leverages the MTS/IEEE Oceans meetings, and the local MTS student chapter. The initial class will begin in the summer of 2018.