MATE Center: Ocean Career Website
Authors: Sullivan Deidre , Murphree Tom , Ford Bruce 
Published: October 2008

The ocean attracts and inspires thousands of students every year to pursue degrees in science, engineering, and technology. Yet with all the attention paid to the oceans, students often lack the information needed to make wise decisions about choosing an ocean-related career. The California Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence1 (California COSEE) and the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center are responding to this problem by developing a user-friendly interactive website on ocean careers (www.oceancareers.com).

About the MATE Center

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, headquartered at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California, is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) and has been in existence since 1997. The MATE Center is a national network of community colleges, high schools, universities, research institutions, marine industries, professional societies, and working professionals. The mission of the MATE Center is to improve marine technical education and in this way help to prepare the nation's future workforce for ocean-related occupations.

California COSEE is funded by the Directorate of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation and its partners include MARE, at the Lawrence Hall of Science on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, California Sea Grant, and the MATE Center at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California.

Introduction

California COSEE1 and the MATE Center believe that one of the greatest services we can offer students and workers is to provide access to good information about ocean careers and employment opportunities so they can make informed choices concerning their education, career, and future.

It is estimated that over twenty percent of our national economy is based on ocean-related activities and that one in six jobs are ocean-related (1). Yet with all the attention paid to the oceans it is hard to direct students to make wise decisions about their choice in careers and skills needed to seek gainful and fulfilling employment. There are a variety of reasons this:

Current trends in research and industry are not necessary reflected in how educational programs are structured.

Inrecent years, progress in ocean research has increasingly occurred at the intersections of traditional marine disciplines. Comprehensive large-scale studies in areas such as marine fisheries and El Niño have required multidisciplinary approaches, with technology playing a key role. Projects such as NEPTUNE, LEO-15, and the Integrated Ocean Observing System depend heavily on technology. Recent trends in technology in support of science include the increased use of: remote sensing, computer processing power, microelectronics, and biotechnology. These technologies are also widely used in industry. However, this multidisciplinary, technologybased approach is not reflected in the majority of our educational programs. The bottom line is that the evolution of undergraduate programs tends to be much slower than trends in research and industry. Therefore, students who specialize in any one subject to the exclusion of others or who do not have some level of technical skill and knowledge may have a problem finding a job (2). The ability of our workforce to remain internationally competitive is reliant on people who understand the technology behind the science.