Evolution of Master Level Teaching to Use Copernicus Data

The Master in Marine Sciences at Sorbonne University (SU) as affiliated entity of CNRS aims at training students, in two years, at the highest level of qualification in the domains of oceanography, marine ecology, and marine biogeochemistry. Supported by Sorbonne University academic structures, on the Paris campus and in the marine stations of Banyuls-sur-mer, Roscoff, and Villefranche-sur-mer, students learn to tackle the main challenges that marine environments are facing (global changes and conservation of biodiversity) through interdisciplinary approaches, from local to global scales. Thanks to a partnership with other European Universities within IMBRsea Erasmus Mundus program, the Master offers opportunities for international students to join the French group making a truly international group of approximate 50 students/year. The master has been approved by the French Ministry of education for 2018-2023.

Satellite products are used in several courses to prepare oceanographic cruises with the students, to build global habitat models or in GIS courses. Every year, few students use satellite products in their 6 months training. The goal of the lectures and lab work is really to educate future ecologist and environmental managers, a public that is generally not well trained at using large datasets, to use satellite products.

The Copernicus User Uptake program support will help us to improve our teaching with better pedagogical resources that will be translated in English in order to facilitate the dissemination to the 50 students of the master but also on the Internet and during Summer Schools. We will improve and translate into English five university course materials at master level of the Marine Sciences of Sorbonne University, using Copernicus products. All courses (but one) take place at the Institute de la Mer de Villefranche sur Mer (IMEV). One course will be filmed and transformed into a video capsule.

Master 1 in Paris:

GIS training (3h of practical lab are devoted to spatial oceanographic datasets using satellite products)

Master 2 at IMEV:

• Instrumentation and acquisition of data in oceanography. 3 h of course and 3h of lab work are dedicated to the planning of a cruise using satellite products (SST, SSH, ocean colour, wind)
• Methods for the Exploitation of Data in Oceanography. 3 h of course and 3h of lab work are dedicated to the comparison between in situ measures and satellite products.
• Modeling the Marine Environment. 3 h of course and 3h of lab work are dedicated to the building up of IBM in a spatial current frame of oceanic current. This course will be encapsulated in a small video.

Summer school (master level) at IMEV:

Multivariate Analyses for Marine Ecology. 3 h of course and 3h of lab work are dedicated to the global and local change in biodiversity through the building up of niche models using satellite products.