This one-week, summer science enrichment program will provide 25 students with remotely operated underwater vehicles to explore local marine biology. This summer’s maiden voyage will take place at the James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park in North Bergen, NJ. John Ponticorvo, facilitator at Explore 2000, says, “The program will develop inquiry‐based skills through the prism of underwater exploration.” Ponticorvo explained that students of the program “will experience how technology can open up new horizons for scientific discovery and exploration.” The SPARK grant, which totals over $16,000, includes the cost of the submersible equipment and training for Explore 2000 faculty. Diana Burich, of the NJ Sea Grant Consortium, will provide the initial training for the Pilot Program, and the Explore 2000 faculty plans to continue to work with the equipment in the future. The PSEG SPARK science grant is the result of collaboration between Diana Burich and Claire Antonucci of the NJ Sea Grant Consortium, the HCST Foundation, and the facilitators at Explore 2000.
