This year’s school was held August 5-10 at Regional Maritime University (RMU) in Accra, Ghana. The size of the school was similar to the two previous years, with participants primarily from Ghana and Nigeria, as well as Benin, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon. We had a field trip to the Tema Port on Tuesday morning, where all participants took a short boat ride and collected some data samples. Following the introduction of the project track in 2018, this year’s school continued to offer a project track for a select number of participants, with six pre-defined project groups and more mentoring time with instructors, in addition to the standard lectures and hands-on lab activities. The project participants presented their work on the last day of the school. This year we introduced a mini-conference, where we invited select participants and instructors to give a brief research talk on Friday afternoon, after which we allotted time for networking and office hours. The largest difference in this year’s school compared to previous years was that the entire school used open-source software – mostly Python (using Jupyter notebook), as well as Ocean Data View (ODV).
Instructors
From left to right: Christian Buckingham, Jackie Wrage, Emily Shroyer, Dimitris Menemenlis, Joseph Ansong, Brian Arbic, Ebenezer Nyadjro, Madelyn Cook, Julia Middleton, Johnson Adjetey, Aline Cotel, Adam Simon, Paige Martin, Winn Johnson, Madeline Foster-Martinez, Andrew Lucas, Stephan Howden. Not pictured: Angela Lamptey, Richmond Kennedy Quarcoo.
Captain Johnson Adjetey, Regional Maritime University
Dr. Joseph K. Ansong, Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, University of Ghana.
Dr. Brian K. Arbic, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan. Physical oceanography, ocean modeling.
Dr. Christian Buckingham, Post-Doctoral Scholar, British Antarctic Survey
Madelyn Cook, PhD Student, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
Dr. Aline Cotel, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Dr. Madeline Foster-Martinez, Research Associate, University of New Orleans
Dr. Stephan D. Howden, Professor, Division of Marine Science in the School of Ocean Science and Technology, University of Southern Mississippi. Hydrographic science and observational physical oceanography.
Dr. Winn Johnson, Post-Doctoral Scholar, Naval Research Laboratory
Dr. Angela Lamptey, Lecturer, Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana. Fisheries science and management.
Dr. Andrew J. Lucas, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California San Diego. Observational physical oceanography, impact of ocean physics on primary productivity.
Dr. Paige E. Martin, Recent PhD graduate, Physics Department, University of Michigan. Ocean-atmosphere interaction, climate modeling, scientific Python.
Dr. Dimitris Menemenlis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
Julia Middleton, PhD Student, MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. Chemical oceanography.
Dr. Ebenezer S. Nyadjro, Research Oceanographer, University of New Orleans and Naval Research Laboratory. Satellite oceanography.
Richmond Kennedy Quarcoo, Founder/Director of Plastic Punch
Dr. Emily L. Shroyer, Professor, Oregon State University. Observational physical oceanography, coastal oceanography.
Dr. Adam C. Simon, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan. Economic geology, oil and gas basin development, ore deposits.
Jackie Wrage, PhD Student, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
Day 1: Monday, August 5th
Morning:
Opening Ceremony
Plastic Punch – Richmond Kennedy Quarcoo
Overview, logistics, meet & greet – Instructors (download instructor overview slides here)
Intro to Fluid Mechanics and the Gulf of Guinea – Aline Cotel and Ebenezer Nyadjro
Afternoon Labs/Lectures:
e-Waste and Biofuel Sustainability – Adam Simon
Plastic Transport – Aline Cotel and Madeline Foster-Martinez
Python lecture – Paige Martin
VC Reception
Day 2: Tuesday, August 6th
Morning:
Fieldtrip to Tema Port!
Afternoon Labs:
Beach Processes and Cleanup – Richmond Kennedy Quarcoo, Andrew Lucas, Emily Shroyer, Stephan Howden, Aline Cotel
Python Lab – Paige Martin (zip file of Jupyter notebooks and python scripts and satellite data)
- Instructions on how to download Anaconda on Windows: Install Python on Windows (PDF)
- Instructions on how to open a Jupyter Notebook and install libraries: Jupyter Notebook Tutorial by Paige! (PDF)
Day 3: Wednesday, August 7th
Morning Lectures:
Coastal and Estuarine Processes – Andrew Lucas
Special Topics in Satellite Oceanography – Ebenezer Nyadjro
Evaluating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) – Dimitris Menemenlis
Oil and Gas Basin Development – Adam Simon
Afternoon Labs:
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics – Aline Cotel, Emily Shroyer, Anrew Lucas
Satellite Oceanography – Ebenezer Nyadjro, Christian Buckingham
Oil and Gas Development (Slides and Lab Materials) – Adam Simon, Jackie Wrage
Day 4: Thursday, August 8th
Morning Lectures:
Biogeochemistry: Benguela Upwelling – Winn Johnson
Hydrography – Stephan Howden
Ocean Modeling – Joseph Ansong
Physical Oceanography: West African Monsoon – Emily Shroyer
Afternoon Labs:
Tides – Stephan Howden
Chemical Oceanography with ODV (Worksheet and ODV Download Instructions) – Winn Johnson
Ocean Modeling and ECCO – Joseph Ansong, Dimitris Menemenlis
Day 5: Friday, August 9th
Morning Lectures:
Fish Habitats, Swimming, and Turbulence – Aline Cotel
Fisheries and Aquaculture – Angela Lamptey
Wonders of Wetlands – Madeline Foster-Martinez
Trace Metal Cycling – Julia Middleton
Afternoon:
Mini-Conference: 5-Minute Research Talks – Various instructors and participants
Office Hours/Networking
Day 6: Saturday, August 10th
Morning:
Project Presentations – Project Track Participants
- Group 1: Physics of the Gulf of Guinea – Babatunde Adebo, Benson Levi, Babatunde Aderibigbe, Chika Ikele, Adams A.K Azameti
- Group 2: Coastal Ecosystems: Accretion – Folasade Adeboyejo, Richard Asante, Ayorinde Adefolake, Ogunsola Oluwadarasimi
- Group 2: Coastal Ecosystems: Nutrients – Fred Ahiati, Kelvin Klokpa, Augustine Abotsi, Emmanuel Sandy Ofosu
- Group 3: Time Series Analysis of Satellite Data – Olawale Awe, Juliet Igbo, Oghenekevwe Oghenechovwen, Shopenhauer Fokou, Bethel Ukazu
- Group 4: Biogeochemical Processes – Essang Mfonobong, Oladipo Mumin, Abani Daniel Okoh
- Group 6: Gulf of Guinea simulation with MITgcm/ECCO – Evelyn Aboagye, Emmanuel Brempong, Patrick Dwomfuor, Cyril Amengor
Discussion on graduate school opportunities, scholarships, & application strategies – Ebenezer Nyadjro
Open discussion about how to improve future sessions of the school – Joseph Ansong
Afternoon:
Closing ceremony with presentation of certificates – Link to certificate photos
Coastal Ocean Environment Summer School In Nigeria and Ghana 