Water - Our Greatest Resource Photo Competition

A Transition Year Photo Competition, entitled Water - Our greatest Resource, has been launched that will offer transition year students in Galway and Mayo an opportunity to conduct scientific research onboard the Marine Institute's research vessel the RV Celtic Voyager, in Galway Bay on Sunday October 7th as part of GMIT's 40th anniversary celebrations.

This competition celebrates over 25 years of marine scientists training with GMIT, as well as the close association GMIT has with the Marine Institute, particularly with the use of the national research vessels used for training expeditions.

Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO of the Marine Institute welcomed the Science@Sea initiative saying, "This competition and the work of SMART (Strategic Marine Alliance for Research and Training) programme highlights the importance of creating opportunities towards a student's professional development and career. The programme continues to provide quality offshore training for students of marine science, technology and engineering which is highly relevant to the realisation of the economic potential of our marine resources".

On Sunday the 7th of October the RV Celtic Voyager will leave from the docks in Galway for a marine survey centred on the core disciplines of Benthic Ecology, Fisheries Biology, Marine Geophysics and Oceanography. The expedition will be led by experienced scientific personnel from the Strategic Marine Alliance for Research and Training and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology.

Dr Des Foley, Head of the School of Science, and Research and Innovation at GMIT, thanked the Marine Institute for providing the RV Celtic Voyager for this special occasion. He added, "the unique access to Marine Institute vessels over the years has given our students and graduates a fantastic opportunity to train at sea and to acquire practical skills which are second-to-none. I would also like to thank our own staff, some of whom are now retired, who developed and delivered ship-based training and education programmes and to recognise such innovation as part of our 40th anniversary celebrations."

Using state of the art equipment and instrumentation students will work alongside scientists to investigate physical, chemical and biological aspects of Galway Bay and learn about potential careers in marine science and technology. Ireland is poised to realise the full potential of her ocean resource and transition year students with a strong aptitude for science, engineering and technology now have an opportunity to whet their appetite for this adventure.

The "Water - Our Greatest Resource" competition can be entered by uploading the photo entry and description to the GMIT Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/GmitSchoolsLiaisonOffice.

Application are asked to submit a photograph of an aspect of Ireland's ocean that interests them with no more than 200 words of text explaining its significance. Each photo entry must include:
Your Name
Your School
A Contact Number/Email
Your Photo
A 200 word photo description

Please visit http://www.gmit.ie/slo/ for more information.
Please note: Applications should be supported by the Transition Year coordinator in your school and a letter of permission from parent or guardian.
The closing date for applications online is Friday 21st of September 2012.

Transition Year training is provided by Strategic Marine Alliance for Research and Training (SMART) a marine science partnership programme that provides quality offshore training for students of marine science, technology and engineering. Core partners include the National University of Ireland, Galway, University College Cork, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, Cork Institute of Technology, the National Maritime College and the Marine Institute, with additional funding by the Higher Education Authority.

Transition Year training is carried out under the Sea Change strategy with the support of the Marine Institute and the Marine Research Sub-programme of the National Development Plan 2007–2013.