The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center Conducts Education and Career Projects Through NOPP
The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center is a national partnership of organizations that works to identify the knowledge and skills needed for a variety of marine science careers to better prepare America’s workforce for ocean occupations. The MATE Center works with educators, marine industries, professional societies, and research institutions to help develop courses, curriculum, and programs that best prepare students and practicing professionals for those careers.
Over the past few years, the MATE Center has been working to identify and define the various knowledge and skill sets graduates need in order to perform well in a variety of marine-related occupations. The products from this work include knowledge and skill guidelines for marine science and technology careers, which raise awareness about specific marine science careers and provide information regarding necessary knowledge, skills, education levels, course work requirements, salary ranges, relevant publications, and on-going and expected career trends.
In 2006, NOPP funded the MATE Center to complete a study to produce a more complete description of the present state of the ocean science, technology, and operations workforce as well as to anticipate future developments and the evolution of the workforce, and to characterize the educational programs that will be needed to respond to expected workforce changes. As part of the NOPP funded project, two knowledge and skill guidelines have been published; one outlining skills and knowledge requirements for oceanographic instrumentation technicians and another for operational marine forecasters.
The MATE Center website provides many useful links to internship opportunities, underwater robotics competitions, curriculum resources, and information on how to partner with the MATE Center to develop education, career planning, and professional development programs. For more information, please visit the MATE Center website here.
