As part of the INTERREG Atlantic Area iFADO project, a citizen science action was designed to release a fleet of miniboats from each country of the European Atlantic façade. The action was performed with the educational passages miniboat program dedicated to ocean and environmental literacy. Students work together to prepare, deploy, and track their very own miniboat while learning about ocean currents, weather, technology, and more. Each 5-foot long uncrewed miniboat has a satellite transmitter, allowing everyone to track it as it sails across the ocean. Students connect with the local school and community where it lands and learn about cultures around the world. The Miniboat Program empowers students to become citizen scientists and global ocean stewards. The iFADO miniboat mission will be presented on the evening along with an overarching objective of iFADO and other innovative ocean observing and modelling initiatives, e.g. the sea gliders.
Speakers at this talk include:
- Francisco Campuzano, +ATLANTIC CoLAB, Portugal
- Tomasz Dabrowski, Marine Institute, Ireland
- Cassie Stymiest, Educational Passages, United States
- Carlos Barrera, Head of the Ocean Vehicles Unit at Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), Spain
- Paulo Oliveira, Physical Oceanographer, The Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere
- Kieran Reilly, Economic Analyst, Marine Institute, Ireland
- Sue Hartman, Oceanographer at National Oceanography Centre, UK
- Peter Kane, Kilglass National School, Ireland
