Thirty university students and trainers from across Australia are embarking on a unique educational journey as they prepare to circumnavigate Tasmania aboard the CSIRO research vessel Investigator. This 10-day voyage is part of a specialized tertiary sea training program known as CAPSTAN, the Collaborative Australian Postgraduate Sea-Training Alliance Network.

Delivered in partnership with CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, marine science industries, universities, and government, CAPSTAN offers a nationwide approach to applied teaching and learning in marine science and other STEM disciplines.

Dr. Pier van der Merwe, the Director of CAPSTAN from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), emphasized the invaluable hands-on experience this sea voyage provides for developing Australia’s next generation of marine experts.

“Nothing compares with hands-on learning. For future marine scientists, this is where the action happens – where theory is put into practice and concepts sink in because students can observe the ecosystem with their own eyes,” Dr. van der Merwe said.

During the voyage, students will participate in a wide range of marine science operations, including atmospheric and oceanographic studies, surveys of deep-sea ecosystems and marine life, seafloor mapping, sediment sampling, and even the search for a historic shipwreck off the northwest coast of Tasmania.

The diverse backgrounds of the CAPSTAN students span from biological and chemical oceanography to geoscience and engineering, with women comprising two-thirds of the participants on this voyage.

This voyage marks the beginning of the CAPSTAN program following a successful pilot program conducted from 2017 to 2020. Two more CAPSTAN training voyages are planned in the upcoming schedules of RV Investigator.