JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University and OCEARCH announced a partnership Thursday that will expand marine research and learning through experience for university students.
The collaboration of JU and OCEARCH, an organization that generates scientific data from different marine species around the world, connects the renowned at-sea laboratory with a marine science academic partner at the nexus of an important great white shark habitat and migration area.
"We had never felt the warmth of a community in our work anywhere around the word like we felt in Jacksonville," said OCEARCH founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer, who will take on the role of explorer in residence at JU.
The launch of OCEARCH at JU creates and opportunity for student-centered marine science learning and provides a global leader in ocean species research an academic home, officials said.
“I am very excited for this new chapter for OCEARCH,” Fischer said. “The vision for OCEARCH was always to institutionalize it so it could live beyond any one individual. This is the first step to having OCEARCH serve scientists, students, communities, the ocean and the planet in perpetuity.”
OCEARCH at Jacksonville University will foster a wide range of new educational opportunities outside the classroom for Jacksonville University students.
The 126-foot marine research vessel carries a research platform like a sea laboratory. For about 10 years, it's been traveling the world and generating scientific data from marine species. The vessel M/V OCEARCH has tagged more than 200 sharks and completed dozens of special research expeditions from South Africa to the Galapagos Islands to Australia over the last decade.
Fischer said JU has the perfect location because the campus is located right off the water.
"(It's) right in the middle of the North Atlantic white shark puzzle, right in the middle of a fundamental research project required to make sure the entire eastern seaboard is abundant," Fischer said.
In 2012, OCEARCH tracked a 16-foot, 3,600-pound great white named Mary Lee right under the Jacksonville Beach Pier. Millions of people now track her every move and she's teaching researchers more about marine life and how to improve the marine ecosystem.
Under the new collaboration, the M/V OCEARCH will be homeported in Jacksonville, and JU will bring a pre-eminent shark scholar to its current marine sciences faculty. OCEARCH at JU will sustain one of the world’s leading gatherers of scientific data, allowing it to grow and flourish in its new institutional home, officials said.
“Jacksonville University has always offered students incredible opportunities to understand marine science, but with this new partnership, we are taking that opportunity to the next level,” said Dr. Quinton White, executive director of the Marine Science Research Institute. “We have the ocean in our backyard, which is really going to help the success of OCEARCH at Jacksonville University.”
The one-of-a-kind learning opportunity will extend beyond just marine science students, university officials said. With an emphasis on scientific inquiry, learning through experience, innovation and sustainability, OCEARCH at the university will also offer hands-on experience to JU students in other disciplines
"Whether you're studying marine science, business, health care, film, public policy," explained JU President Tim Cost. “We are very proud of this collaboration."
The partnership brings strength to OCEARCH’s structure as it continues to conduct new studies and collect additional information that will aid in the preservation of ocean life, officials said.
"Now they're going to be in our own backyard, and that's amazing," said Maria Cooler, a junior majoring in marine science at JU. "Any connection that you make networking-wise with anyone, especially OCEARCH, can help me, and hopefully I can help them."
Located on the banks of the St. Johns River and a quick trip away from the Atlantic Ocean, JU is also home to the Marine Science Research Institute, which offers real-world research experience on the environment and sustainable practices to preserve the future.