Fishing for Data: Real world applications for oceanographic observations

Date: January 23, 2026
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Description:

Professional learning workshop for informal and formal educators Grades 6-12.

The WHOI Sea Grant Program, WHOI Information Office, and WHOI Academic Programs Office offer professional development workshops for high school and middle school teachers, held twice a year. Teachers get to hear about current research directly from the scientists, experience either the lab or field, sample some classroom activities, and discuss how to integrate their new knowledge into their curriculum. Teachers then take home a thumb drive with background material and classroom activities.

 

Spend the day learning from top researchers at WHOI and the Cape Cod Fishermen's Alliance about the importance of cataloging and understanding changing ocean conditions. Waters off the Northeast U.S. have warmed faster than most of the world’s oceans, with potentially drastic impacts on fishing industries. WHOI researcher Caroline Ummenhofer and collaborators have partnered with the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance (CCCFA) to collect important catch-relevant oceanographic data in under-sampled areas around Cape Cod. This partnership aims to improve the understanding of the connections between oceanographic and fishing conditions.

 

Start off the day learning from Mel Sanderson of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance (CCCFA) about the eMOLT Project. This collaborative research project with the commercial fishing industry puts sensors on fishing gear to record water quality parameters such as temperature and dissolved oxygen to gain a better understanding of how ocean properties are changing. We’ll review how the environmental sensors work (at a high level) and dive into how fishermen are using the data to improve their fishing businesses.

 

Next, Caroline Ummenhofer and Finn Wimberly (WHOI) will briefly introduce the changing ocean conditions on the Northeast U.S. shelf that motivated the WHOI Sea Grant-supported partnership between scientists and the fishing community. They will introduce a web-based custom-built tool designed to easily visualize the data collected: https://ccocean.whoi.edu/. While the data offer scientists a better understanding of changing ocean conditions, fishermen can use the information to make real-time science-based decisions. Meanwhile, serving not just CCCFA-collected oceanographic data, the dashboard also serves as a useful educational tool to learn about changing ocean conditions across the Northeast U.S. shelf. Through hands-on exploration of the web-tool, educators and students can engage with oceanographic concepts.

 

In the afternoon, we'll demo the eMOLT curriculum. This was designed to introduce high school students to key oceanographic and water quality concepts that will allow them to analyze and understand the eMOLT dataset. It provides place-based lessons rooted in Massachusetts data that will give your students background information on topics involving Oceanography, Fisheries, Water Quality, Marine Biology, Data Manipulation and Analysis, and much more! Each lesson includes Next Generation Science Standards and Massachusetts Framework associated with the topics covered.