K-12 teachers may also build expertise in their professions by increasing their familiarity with coastal marine ecosystems.
Students learn to use modern oceanographic equipment in offshore and estuarine study settings.
The Philip Parker is Coast Guard certified for 45 passengers and carries a modern global positioning system and radar equipment for navigation in all weather and research conditions. A recent grant from the National Science Foundation funded the purchase of a computerized system to profile automatically depth, temperature, salinity, and oxygen in the water column. In addition to the Philip Parker, the Consortium also operates several smaller craft for inshore work in the marsh channels and bays. The Consortium maintains general oceanographic, environmental collection, and monitoring equipment. The Consortium's full-time instructional staff works with the professors to provide a high quality, interdisciplinary experience in the oceanographic sciences.