Ocean Acoustics Education and Expertise (2025)
Chapter: 3 State of Ocean Acoustics Education and Expertise
3
State of Ocean Acoustics Education and Expertise
By 2030, it is estimated that the marine industries will employ at least 40 million full-time equivalent jobs, with the fastest growth anticipated to occur within offshore wind energy, marine aquaculture, fish processing, and port activities (OECD, 2016). In addition, with growing marine-related industries, policy makers and regulators will need professional development while in the workforce to support this rapid development. Emphasis on the need for ocean acousticians in maritime defense and naval sectors also remains important. To meet the needs to maintain critical national security and support the growing maritime industry sector, it is necessary to expand ocean acoustics education in the United States. The new positions cover the full range of educational levels and technical skills, including those requiring the capacity to apply ocean acoustics knowledge; practical skills for operation, calibration, and maintenance of acoustics-enabled technologies; or advanced degrees in science or engineering.
Many professionals studying ocean acoustics have developed on-the-job expertise through exposure to the core concepts of their employment role, as opposed to having specific acoustics education or other formal training. Thus, fostering knowledge in ocean acoustics and critical support skills in a short time frame will require a new set of learning opportunities. Developing and maintaining the needed workforce relies on innovative and flexible educational programs outside the traditional path to an advanced terminal degree. Education programs with multiple and rapid pathways to various degree levels, certification, and skills attainment allow learners to choose training, pathways within formal education, or a combination of both. This chapter outlines the opportunities available in both formal education and training programs.
To appropriately assess both education and training opportunities related to ocean acoustics and supporting disciplines, the committee agreed on the definitions for the education and training terms used in this report (see Box 3-1). These definitions are directly mapped to Bloom’s taxonomy, a well-known framework for categorizing educational goals and objectives into levels of complexity and specificity. For completeness, the definitions for the six levels in the revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy from Krathwohl (2002) are as follows:
- Remember: Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory.
- Understand: Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining.
- Apply: Carrying out or using a procedure through executing or implementing.
- Analyze: Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure or purpose through differentiating, organizing, and attributing.
BOX 3-1
Key Terms Used in This Report
Formal education (i.e., degree related) provides content for all areas of applied acoustics, including the fundamentals of sound propagation, signal processing, scattering, and instrumentation. This category is used as an evaluation criterion in many organizations during the employment application process. Formal course- and research-related education directly supports the workforce in post-secondary academia, research efforts in federal organizations, and industry research and development. This encompasses all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, as it provides content for all areas of applied acoustics, from the fundamentals (Remember, Understand) to more complex applications (Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, Create).
Training refers to targeted content, experiences, and learning applications related to applied applications or technologies, resulting in specific expertise. Training enables effective operation and use of acoustic technology and software in specific applications or operations. It can include microcredentialing programs, which allow participants to stack certificates that lead to deeper expertise, and opportunities provided by employers. This focuses on the Apply level of Bloom’s taxonomy, as it enables effective operation and use of acoustic technology and software in specific applications or operations.
Workshops, Short Courses, and Tutorials refer to professional development opportunities available through professional society conferences, industry-led training on equipment/software, or other discrete learning opportunities aimed at gaining a new skill or knowledge where participants earn a certificate or acknowledgment of completion. These opportunities can span the first four levels of Bloom’s taxonomy (Remember, Understand, Apply, and Analyze), depending on the depth and complexity of the content.
Experiential Learning refers to hands-on opportunities where learners are immersed in specific activities and then have the opportunity to reflect on these activities (i.e., learning by doing). This primarily focuses on the Apply and Analyze levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
Professional Development refers to programs offered for current members of the workforce and can include training, workshops, short courses, tutorials, experiential learning, webinars, and asynchronous online opportunities. This can encompass all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, depending on the specific program and its objectives.
Apprenticeship refers to an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce and individuals can obtain paid work experience and classroom instruction. This focuses on the Apply and Analyze levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, as individuals gain paid work experience and classroom instruction to develop their skills and knowledge in a specific industry.
Reciprocal or Reverse Internship refers to opportunities for a professor to take a sabbatical to spend time working for a company or a professional to take leave to intern at an academic institution. This can encompass the Apply, Analyze, and Evaluate levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, as professionals gain practical experience and insights in a different setting (industry or academia).
Co-ops refer to programs where students spend a semester in a paid full-time position within their industry to gain practical, hands-on experience while earning credits toward graduation. This focuses on the Apply and Analyze levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
- Evaluate: Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing.
- Create: Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing.
Many degree programs in acoustics or supporting disciplines provide formal education and training, yet training can also be obtained informally, through on-the-job training, webinars, and other efforts that relate to the understanding, operation, and maintenance of ocean acoustics instrumentation and technology. Many ocean acoustics education and training programs are taught in traditional lecture-type formats that are not in line with current understanding of effective STEM pedagogy (Freeman et al., 2014) and may therefore hinder student retention. The emphasis on experiential learning is addressed in Chapters 5 and 6.
This chapter discusses existing opportunities for direct training in acoustics throughout academia, government (both military and non-military), and industry. The material is presented in two sections: formal education programs and training. The first section includes information on institutions that offer ocean acoustics, a review of coursework and related topics, and training programs offered within formal education programs. The second section includes examples of on-the-job training, workshops, short courses, and tutorials offered outside of formal education.
FORMAL EDUCATION
This section outlines the institutions with formal degree offerings in acoustics and available programs or concentrations that emphasize acoustics and ocean acoustics as a discipline. Within this framework, the institutions and departments offering formal acoustics education are first described, including degree- or certificate-issuing opportunities with “acoustics” indicated on a diploma and those that offer a specialization that emphasizes acoustics but without the specialization reflected on a degree/diploma (i.e., an acoustics track or concentration within a larger major). The size of each program is categorized by the number of faculty and courses relating to acoustics. Second, a discussion of the coursework identified by this committee and survey respondents necessary for a robust ocean acoustics education is presented. Last, training opportunities available through formal education programs (such as internships and co-ops) are presented. This methodology strives to capture most U.S. acoustics education, although it is not necessarily comprehensive; further explanation is provided in the next section and note on Table 3-1.
Institutions with Formal Acoustics Offerings
Table 3-1 summarizes programs that offer either (1) a degree or formal certificate in acoustics, as indicated under the diploma column or (2) at least one course specialized in acoustics and/or a concentration of graduate research topics in acoustics without a formal degree or certificate. The programs are listed alphabetically by their home institution to provide a snapshot of the breadth of institutions and departments with ocean acoustics coursework. It is beyond the scope of this report to provide an evaluation or ranking of individual programs. The institutions in Table 3-1 were compiled from survey results, information-gathering panels, and committee awareness. A small subset of programs that offer ocean acoustics minors, concentrations, specializations, or tracks reflected in the degree but do not offer a degree or formal certificate in ocean acoustics are not listed under the diploma column of Table 3-1. Table 3-1 underscores the variety of programs and departments with ocean acoustics content, ranging from physics and engineering to biology and marine technology.
In accordance with the inclusion criteria for Table 3-1, faculty and course count columns do not include biomedical acoustics, seismology, vibration or structural dynamics, audio production, music-related acoustics, speech, hearing, linguistics-related applications, or architectural acoustics. In addition, courses in which acoustics is merely a section or module have also been omitted, such as several courses from various disciplines that include wave motion and acoustics as topics.
In the faculty count, ranges are reported based on staff listed on program/department websites, excluding visiting faculty. Not all institutions organize information such that a single search can confidently locate complete information, so it is impossible to state that the numbers are free from error. For example, depending on the specific program, adjunct and research faculty may not have been counted if the information available online at the time of data gathering did not include them (e.g., research faculty not listed on departmental webpages). For emeritus
| Institutiona | Instruction Typeb | Department or Program | No. of Faculty | No. of Courses | “Acoustics” Listed on Diploma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programs with Ocean Acoustics Courses | |||||
| Catholic University of America | R | Mechanical Engineering | 3–5 | 6–10 | |
| Duke University | R | Electrical and Computer Engineering and Marine Science and Conservation | 6–10 | 3–5 | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program | R | Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering | 6–10 | 6–10 | |
| Naval Postgraduate School | R | Physics Department/Maritime Battlespace Environments/Physical Oceanography | 3–5 | 6–10 | Ph.D. in Engineering Acoustics, Fundamentals of Engineering Acoustics Certificate, Certificate in Anti-Submarine Warfare (includes significant acoustics content)c |
| Northwestern Michigan College | R, D | Marine Technology | 3–5 | 3–5 | Marine Data Processing Certificated |
| Oregon State University | R | Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystem and Resources Studies (only classes with ocean acoustics content) | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| Pennsylvania State University | R, D | Graduate Program in Acoustics | >10 | >10 | M.Eng., M.S., and Ph.D. in Acoustics |
| Stony Brook University | R | School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| Syracuse University | R | Biology (Bioacoustics and Behavioral Ecology Lab) | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| United States Naval Academy | R | Physics Department/Ocean and Atmospheric Science | 1-2 | 1-2 | |
| University of Delaware | R | Electrical and Computer Engineering | 1-2 | 1-2 | |
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a This table was edited after the prepublication report was released to add the United States Naval Academy and the University of Delaware.
| Institutiona | Instruction Typeb | Department or Program | No. of Faculty | No. of Courses | “Acoustics” Listed on Diploma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California San Diego | R | Scripps Institution of Oceanography | 5–10 | 6–10 | |
| Programs with Ocean Acoustics Courses | |||||
| University of Miami | R | Department of Ocean Sciences/Electrical Engineering | 1–2 | 3–5 | |
| University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | R | Electrical Engineering | 3–5 | 6–10 | Acoustics Certificate |
| University of New Hampshire | R, D | Center for Acoustics Research and Education, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping, Ocean Engineering, Oceanography | 3–5 | 6–10 | Graduate Certificate in Acoustics |
| University of Rhode Island | R | Department of Ocean Engineering/School of Oceanography | 3–5 | 6–10 | |
| University of Texas at Austin | R | Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biology, Biomedical Engineering | 6–10 | >10 | |
| Programs with Ocean Acoustics-Related Course Content | |||||
| Brigham Young University | R | Physics & Astronomy/Mechanical Engineering | 6–10 | 6–10 | |
| George Mason University | R | Electrical and Computer Engineering | 1–2 | 3–5 | |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | R, D | School of Mechanical Engineering | 6–10 | 6–10 | |
| Northeastern University | R | Electrical Engineering | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| Portland State University | R | Electrical and Computer Engineering/Mechanical Engineering | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| University of the District of Columbia | R | Center of Excellence for Acoustic and Seismic Sensing of Urban Environments | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| University of Mississippi | R | Physics | 3–5 | 3–5 | |
| Institutiona | Instruction Typeb | Department or Program | No. of Faculty | No. of Courses | “Acoustics” Listed on Diploma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Washington | R | Engineering/Physics/Oceanography | 3–5 | 1–2 | |
| Programs with Core Acoustics Courses | |||||
| Cornell University | R | Department of Natural Resources and the Environment/K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology | e | 3–5 | |
| Joliet Junior College | R R R | Department of Natural Science | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| Kettering University | R | Department of Natural Science | 3–5 | 6–10 | |
| Purdue University | Mechanical Engineering | >10 | 6–10 | ||
| Stevens Institute of Technology | Ocean Engineering | 1–2 | 3–5 | ||
| University of Hartford | R | Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Acoustical Engineering | 1–2 | 6–10 | BSME w/Acoustics Concentrationf |
| University of Louisiana at Lafayette | R | Department of Physics | 1–2 | 1–2 | |
| University of Massachusetts Lowell | R | Mechanical Engineering | 3–5 | 1–2 | |
NOTE: Institutions are listed alphabetically within each section of the table.
b Instruction Type is R = resident, D = distance.
c Survey results appear to be double counted for institutional responses from NPS, which the committee could not verify given the anonymous nature of the results;
d Includes underwater acoustics and sonar, offered in addition to a B.S. in marine technology;
e Cornell had no survey responses. Due to the organization of its websites, it was not possible to accurately count the number of faculty or researchers actively advising students in acoustics. The academic courses on that website at the time of this report (May 2024) are all team taught. One was listed as having 10 instructors, including one academic faulty member, and a number of instructors were affiliated with the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics (YCCB) at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (CLO), including instructors listed as postdocs in the Cornell Directory. Much bioacoustics research is conducted at YCCB and CLO. YCCB is responsible for the popular acoustics signal analysis software Raven. YCCB offers acoustics education in the form of a website on sound analysis principles, training videos for using Raven, and in-person “training workshops for scientists and students working with animal sounds.”
f Despite being referred to as a “concentration,” this degree is specifically listed on its website, separate from ME degrees without the acoustics concentration;
faculty, only individuals officially listed as emeritus on institutional webpages are included. Staff listed as administrative (directors) but not also as faculty were excluded.
The faculty counts in Table 3-1 in conjunction with survey responses suggest that the number of professionals with acoustics expertise at many academic institutions has either remained stagnant or significantly decreased, with limited exceptions (see Appendix B, Table 21). Faculty who teach or advise students in ocean acoustics are found in varied departments and colleges, often where it is not the primary research or academic focus. When these faculty retire, that expertise may be lost, particularly if the institution has other primary research or academic needs to fill that do not align with ocean acoustics.
CONCLUSION 3-1:1 Loss of academic ocean acoustics positions and knowledge has resulted from retiring faculty positions not being replaced by new hires with similar research interests.
Institutions in the table are separated into subsections based on whether the program (1) offers ocean acoustics-specific coursework, (2) has ocean-acoustics-related content in other courses (but the institution does not offer a full course on ocean acoustics), or (3) offers core acoustics coursework.
Prerequisite mathematics courses are the foundation of most science and engineering programs of study and, therefore, broadly offered at institutions of higher education. These courses, such as linear algebra and differential equations, are not included in the course content count of Table 3-1. Nevertheless, they are necessary for a solid mathematical understanding of acoustics. Course counts were derived from institutional websites that list specific courses by name and unique number rather than from survey respondents, primarily due to inconsistencies in responses. The survey question on courses was “Which of the following types of acoustics courses are taught by your institution?”; respondents were offered 17 “types of courses” they could select and a write-in “other” selection (see Appendix B, Table 11). In many cases, the survey course names do not map one to one with courses listed on official lists. In some cases, multiple responses from a single institution resulted in a different collection of answers or could not be verified on institutional websites. In other cases, courses not mentioned in surveys were found on institutional websites. Thus, limiting the reporting in the table to courses listed on the websites provided the most consistent results. It is not always possible to determine how frequently a listed class is taught, as some institutions list courses that are officially offered but only rarely taught.
The committee also acknowledges the listing of academic programs in acoustics maintained by ASA,2 which does not exclude any of the subgenres of acoustics in Table 3-1 and includes domestic and international programs.
Table 3-2 displays the list of ABET-accredited programs in Ocean Engineering or Marine Engineering Technology/Naval Architecture. These undergraduate programs have curriculum requirements including “applications of probability and statistics, fluid mechanics, dynamics, and engineering design at the system level” and “solid mechanics, hydrostatics, oceanography, water waves, and underwater acoustics” (ABET, 2021). Thus, they are required to maintain active underwater acoustics content.
Coursework and Relevant Topics
Complementary to courses specializing in acoustics, various supporting courses were identified, by the survey responses and committee, as necessary for a robust ocean acoustics education. These courses can provide direct foundational knowledge and focus on conceptual learning—understanding vital concepts and high-level theory underlying applied uses of acoustics—for an advanced curriculum or serve as a basis for acoustics-specific modules to be offered to a broader audience (see Appendix B, Tables 10 and 13). Beyond foundational math and physics courses covering the fundamentals of wave propagation, many survey respondents indicated that their institutions offered courses in fundamentals of acoustics (86.7 percent), signal processing (80.0 percent), underwater acoustics (73.3 percent), transducer design and modeling (40.0 percent), and acoustic laboratory methods (36.7 percent)
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1 Committee conclusions are presented throughout the report in italics and numbered by the chapter where they appear and in numeric order of appearance.
2 The list of academic programs maintained by ASA can be found on its website; see https://exploresound.org/business-directory-2/.
| Institution | ABET Program | Acoustics | Ocean Acoustics |
|---|---|---|---|
| California State University Maritime Academy | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | |
| Florida Atlantic University | Ocean Engineering | Y | |
| Florida Institute of Technology | Ocean Engineering | Y | |
| Maine Maritime Academy | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | |
| State University of New York Maritime College | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | Y |
| Texas A&M University | Ocean Engineering | Y | Y |
| Texas A&M University Galveston | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | Y |
| University of Rhode Island | Ocean Engineering | Y | Y |
| United States Coast Guard Academy | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | |
| United States Merchant Marine Academy | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | |
| United States Naval Academy | Ocean Engineering, Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | Y |
| University of Hawai‘i at Mãnoa | Ocean Engineering | Y | Y |
| University of Michigan | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | |
| University of New Hampshire | Ocean Engineering | Y | Y |
| University of New Orleans | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | Y |
| University of Southern Mississippi | Ocean Engineering | Y | Y |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Ocean Engineering | Y | Y |
| Webb Institute | Marine Engineering/Naval Architecture | Y | |
| Purdue University | Mechanical Engineering | Y | |
| University of Massachusetts Lowell | Mechanical Engineering | Y |
NOTE: ABET only accredits undergraduate programs. Institutions listed alphabetically (ABET, 2021).
(see Appendix B, Table 11). Furthermore, these respondents identified courses that would be beneficial to develop, including animal bioacoustics (33.3 percent), acoustics laboratory methods (26.7 percent), sonar system engineering (26.7 percent), computational acoustics (23.3 percent), and musical acoustics (23.3 percent). A relevant course, acoustical oceanography, was mistakenly not included in the survey. These course offerings generally fall in a variety of academic departments, including Oceanography, Ocean Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Biology or Marine Biology (see Appendix B, Table 14).
Although it was not specifically associated with a course, survey respondents also overwhelmingly selected “data analysis (time series analysis, machine learning, etc.)” as a skill needed to be successful in acoustics and ocean acoustics from a suggested list (see Appendix B, Table 30) Closely related, when asked about the future needs of ocean acoustics, respondents shared that the application of ML and AI is a growing need not met by programs and coursework (see Appendix B).
A rising challenge for formal education programs is the limited enrollment attainable for elective courses in a highly interdisciplinary field, such as ocean acoustics. With the changing landscape of higher education, which includes an increased emphasis on the minimum number of students required for a course to be offered and the rapid growth of online courses, traditional formats for in-classroom teaching and degree offerings are often not feasible for ocean acoustics because students studying aspects of it are spread out over several different colleges and departments within a university. Another issue is that the structure places the topic at the very end of the knowledge chain. Allowing for a more flexible curriculum, where students create their own curricular pathways (e.g., programs at Brown University or University of Rochester), could let them engage with ocean acoustics topics earlier. The open curriculum approach can produce more creative and cross-disciplinary thinkers—a proverbial
“sweet spot” for some applications of ocean acoustics. Courses designed to introduce ocean acoustics concepts in introductory courses can also provide the exposure early on.
Another challenge of the varied home departments and programs with ocean acoustics content is that the degrees often do not indicate ocean acoustics (see Table 3-1) or match potential job titles, which affects hiring practices (see Chapter 4). Graduate students also often lack the ability to articulate competencies gained from their graduate coursework on a resume or job application. Ocean acoustics does not accrue the mass of faculty, students, or content to be recognized as an independent discipline with its own inherent value and interests. More importantly, if acoustics is not strongly represented as part of a specific department, it does not have a strong voice in the intellectual agenda and curricula of a university.
CONCLUSION 3-2: The lack of a clear or consistent home department for ocean acoustics programs is an impediment to future growth and recognition of the field.
Specialized Formal Education Opportunities for Uniformed Officers
Active-duty U.S. military members with undergraduate degrees have unique opportunities to be selected to attend graduate school while maintaining their active-duty status. USN provides opportunities through the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), MIT-WHOI Joint Program–UNH, and URI for obtaining graduate degrees in fields related to ocean acoustics. USCG offers advanced education opportunities in marine engineering, which includes naval architecture or ocean engineering M.S. programs. USCG officers selected for this program typically attend MIT, University of Michigan, or Virginia Tech (USCG, n.d.). NPS provides officers from the joint services (predominantly USN and Marines) and civilians from defense or homeland security organizations to study under the supervision of civilian faculty. Military members incur additional obligated service for their time attending graduate degree programs. They are often part of larger USN programs that use ocean acoustics and participate in that national workforce upon leaving USN.
The NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps provides graduate education opportunities in ocean acoustics and related programs through collaboration with several universities: UNH, University of Southern Mississippi, University of South Florida (marine science/hydrography); University of Florida (geomatics); Purdue University (geomatics); University of Houston (geosensing); Oregon State University (geomatics); Pennsylvania State University (surveying/geomatics); The Ohio State University (geodetics); Oregon Institute of Technology (geomatics); and Idaho State University (geomatics/surveying).
Training Opportunities Through Formal Education Programs
In addition to classroom education, training opportunities exist within formal educational programs for students to practice and grow their skills through internships, reverse internships, and co-ops in academic, industry, federal, and professional society settings. In the Ocean Acoustics Education and Expertise survey, 32 respondents provided open-ended reflections when asked to identify the resources needed to better prepare students interested in pursuing acoustics and/or ocean acoustics. Most indicated that some form of additional educational support, including summer school, workshops, courses, and research assistantships, assisted their students’ success. Some of these responses specified the need for fiscal support from government entities in developing these opportunities. Other identified needs include greater funding, additional faculty, support to attract more students, and more equipment or upgraded facilities (see Appendix B, Exhibit 2). These opportunities, as compiled from the survey results, are presented in this section.
Opportunities in Academia
Of the 40 who responded to the question about opportunities available for students to grow or practice their skills, most indicated that their institution offered at least one (see Figure 3-1). They emphasized the role of faculty
NOTE: Most respondents indicated that practicing ocean acoustics skills occurs in labs at higher education institutions, with few opportunities for internships, apprenticeships, or fellowships.
SOURCE: Committee generated from survey data in Appendix B.
in providing access to professional networking opportunities, including presenting at technical conferences and introducing students to leaders in the field. Nevertheless, respondents outlined a need for increased access to internships, teaching and research assistantships, and fellowships, with a particular emphasis on the lack of teaching assistantship opportunities in acoustics or supporting disciplines. From existing programs, 49 respondents wrote in answers to the question to list the top five private companies, foundations, government entities, or other organizations that offer opportunities (including fellowships, internships, and graduate research assistantships) for students in acoustics. The most frequently referenced included ONR (n = 11), NOAA (n = 7), and NSF (n = 4) (see Appendix B, Table 25).
Navy-Related Internships
The following five programs are operating with USN-related entities that include acoustics-related internships. The information has been aggregated from the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Internship Opportunities list (NAVFAC, 2023) and included here for convenience. Although acoustics-related opportunities are included, these are not exclusively acoustics internships.
DoD College Acquisition Internship Program3 is a paid summer internship offered to full-time second- and third-year students, exposing them to DoD acquisition workforce career opportunities. Students obtain experience in data analysis, research, policy development, computer applications, briefings, and report writing.
Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program4 is offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at a participating USN laboratory. Students are paired with a research mentor from the laboratory to guide them in conducting research.
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3 See https://www.hci.mil/dodcareers/internship.html. Accessed December 2023.
4 See https://www.nre.navy.mil/education-outreach/undergraduate-graduate/nreip-naval-internship. Accessed December 2023.
Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program5 provides sophomore through senior high-school students the opportunity to work in a USN laboratory during the summer. They are mentored by scientists and engineers as they learn about naval research and technology.
Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART)6 provides scholarships for undergraduate, M.S., and Ph.D. STEM students to obtain an educational internship and workforce development through hands-on experience at a DoD facility. Each recipient is awarded full tuition, yearly stipends, and a guaranteed job with DoD after graduation.
The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship program7 was established to increase the number of U.S. citizens receiving a Ph.D. in science and engineering disciplines of military importance. Although it is listed as an internship, it is more of a funding opportunity, providing 3 years of support to attend graduate school in a DoD-relevant STEM academic program, often with a faculty advisor who is a DoD principal investigator.
Opportunities in Industry
The most frequently selected opportunities that organizations offer to employees interested in practicing/growing their acoustics skills include conferences/workshops (n = 15), followed by mentorships with a staff member from their organization (n = 11), and summer internships/apprenticeships/fellowships (n = 8) (see Appendix B, Table 50). Survey results from the industry group included individuals who work for for-profit, non-profit, or other nongovernmental organizations. The committee identified a lack of responses relating to co-op opportunities that provide students with industry experience in conjunction with course credit at their home institution.
Reverse internships are opportunities for a professor to take a sabbatical to spend time working for a company or a professional to take leave to intern at an academic institution. These programs can provide learning opportunities for both the individual and the institution, creating stronger future collaborations. They may also provide more opportunities for students to participate in co-ops or internships with the company, as they would be more prepared based on the professor’s learning experience. Reverse internships could also prove effective when working with governmental agencies and create stronger future collaborations and more opportunities for students to participate in co-ops or internships with the agency. The committee is aware of a one-off of this type of program that has proven valuable to both parties involved.
CONCLUSION 3-3: There is a need for a range of training and internship opportunities to foster better connections between academic programs, industry, and/or government agencies.
Opportunities with the Federal Government
Students and early-career professionals within the federal government have many opportunities, including summer, semester, and year internships/apprenticeships/fellowships. Some are specific to acoustics or projects that include aspects of ocean acoustics. As indicated by the survey, many students take advantage of these programs, although more opportunities are needed. From the survey results (see Appendix B, Table 25), the most frequently referenced entities that support graduate research assistantships for students in the field of acoustics (i.e., fellowships, internships, apprenticeships) and acoustics-related/-applied topics were federal agencies. The top three were ONR, NOAA, and NSF.
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5 See https://www.navalsteminterns.us/seap.
6 See https://www.smartscholarship.org/smart. Accessed December 2023
7 See https://ndseg.org.
Opportunities with Professional Societies
Several professional societies, such as ASA, American Geophysical Union (AGU), IEEE/Oceanic Engineering Society (OES), Marine Technology Society (MTS), and the Hydrographic Society of America, provide mentorship opportunities for students with experienced professors/researchers during conferences. The society makes the link between the student and mentor and provides specific engagement activities. These organizations may also offer specific training sessions for students.
CONCLUSION 3-4: Mentoring programs developed by professional societies provide a successful and valuable mechanism for delivering professional development opportunities to the ocean acoustics community through formal and informal one-on-one interactions.
TRAINING PROGRAMS
Training programs provide a complementary option for workforce development to provide hands-on experiences with relevant technology. With targeted content, often in shorter formats, participants can self-design a training and education approach that more precisely addresses their particular interests or related job duties. Topics could include troubleshooting installation and operation of acoustic systems at sea, developing ocean mapping expertise or familiarity with specific software or data management systems, and learning operation and calibration of various acoustic systems.
Examples of On-the-Job Training
Military8
USN has three enlisted ratings (specialties) related to ocean acoustics: Sonar Technician Surface (STG); Sonar Technician Submarines (STS); and Acoustic Technician. At the senior levels, personnel are experts within their specialties, many with at least 15 years of experience. STGs operate surface sonar and other oceanographic systems; collect, analyze, and interpret sonar and oceanographic data; operate surface ship underwater fire control systems (with associated equipment) to solve ASW problems; conduct ordnance evolutions; and perform organizational and intermediate maintenance on surface sonar and allied equipment (Navy COOL, n.d.). STSs operate submarine sonar mainframe and auxiliary equipment, including controlling, evaluating, and intercepting sonar data from oceanographic equipment; coordinate submarine sonar and underwater fire control interface; employ environmental monitoring equipment; and perform organizational and intermediate maintenance (Navy COOL, n.d.). Acoustic Technicians are Warrant Officers who serve within the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System (Navy COOL, n.d.). They are highly skilled specialty officers in acoustic intelligence tasked to provide acoustic analytical expertise and support strategic undersea warfare objectives through employment of undersea sensors. They serve onboard Surveillance Towed Array Sonar System vessels as afloat mission commanders, as Tactical Watch Officers at Naval Ocean Processing Facilities, and as Quality Assurance specialists (Navy COOL, n.d.).
New and continuing employees at the NUWC Newport Division have access to significant in-house training opportunities through NUWC University, which hosts classes in a wide range of fields, including acoustics, taught by employees who are subject-matter experts in their technical fields. All employees are strongly encouraged to develop their careers through these programs.
Military personnel are eligible for college course credit at academic institutions based on knowledge gained through military training and on-the-job experience. The Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support program (DoD, n.d.) supports the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP). Active-duty service members can use CLEP results to earn college credit and generate a Joint Services Transcript. The Navy Credentialing Opportunities On-Line (COOL) helps Navy service members find information on certifications and licenses related to
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8 Military training in this section is not available to civilian personnel.
their jobs or completed academic degrees/certificates. Unfortunately, most acoustics training/knowledge is not represented in these programs and does not translate directly into civilian training opportunities.
The USCG also offers credentialing programs for USN and USCG active-duty and reserve personnel interested in pursuing a career as a civilian mariner or merchant mariner (Absher, 2022). At-sea service can be credentialed by the USCG through the National Maritime Center as an Electronics Technician. This credentialing program covers communications receivers and transmitters, data and voice encryption equipment, navigation and search radar, tactical electronic detection systems, and electronic navigation equipment.
Retiring/separating military officers have pathways to apply their degrees and knowledge; however, retiring/separating enlisted personnel have far fewer opportunities to codify their on-the-job ocean acoustics skills to enter the ocean technology workforce.
Industry
Other examples of on-the-job training include software and equipment tutorials. One barrier to these is the cost to participate, which can be high. Several industry-led tutorials or short courses are available to support a variety of acoustic technologies, such as the two online training programs in forward-looking sonar for navigation and obstacle avoidance offered by Farsounder, Inc. The one for end users includes system operation and the interpretation of sonar data, and the one for technicians includes installation and troubleshooting strategies. Another company that offers in-person and online training programs focused on software applications that support multibeam echosounder data collection, processing, and visualization is Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc., a maritime software company. These training programs are conducted around the world. At least one company, Bose Corporation, offers internal acoustics and signal processing courses for new employees.
UNOLS and USCG Internships
The Marine Advanced Technology Center (MATE) manages a program that places interns in at-sea technical positions in collaboration with the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS) and USCG. The program is open to U.S. applicants and each year selects 12–14 undergraduate or graduate students for 2- to 12-week internships and one student for a 6-month internship. MATE interns work side by side with marine technicians and scientists onboard research vessels operated by UNOLS and the USGC fleet. As many cruises rely on ocean acoustic technologies, they typically provide exposure to operation of acoustic instrumentation. The internships provide participants with the opportunity to develop their technical, scientific, seamanship, and interpersonal skills.
Examples of Workshops, Short Courses, and Tutorials
Numerous workshops, short courses, and tutorials in ocean acoustics exist, but few are offered consistently. Examples include those at UNH, Northwestern Michigan College, MTS, and ASA. Additionally, several societies and academic institutions offer occasional programs that may or may not be repeated. One disadvantage is that intensive, compressed courses do not often allow time and space for the active and collaborative learning pedagogy that has been shown to improve outcomes in STEM fields (Freeman et al., 2014). The format only allows for introducing key concepts, vocabulary, and resources. The value of short courses as captured by the survey responses is the opportunity to develop community and networks that extend beyond the course and serve as a resource for deeper learning and future collaboration.
Academic Programs
UNH offers an annual short course on marine acoustics, sonar systems, and signal processing.9 It provides a fundamental understanding of these three disciplines and a comprehensive introduction to a broad array of more
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9 See https://eos.unh.edu/center-acoustics-research-education/education/marine-acoustics-sonar-systems-signal-processing-short-course.
advanced basic and applied research topics. The course allows scientists, engineers, and those employed in the ocean acoustics workforce an introduction to (or a review of) topics in marine acoustics, sonar systems, and signal processing, providing the necessary background to review current technical literature or take more specialized courses.
UNH and Syracuse University alternately offer the Marine BioAcoustics Summer School Program (SeaBASS),10 which provides the opportunity for graduate students interested in pursuing careers in marine bioacoustics to develop a strong foundation in both marine animal biology and acoustics, foster technical communication across disciplines, and develop professional relationships within the field. SeaBASS gives students an opportunity to learn from experts who discuss topics not often offered at universities due to the relatively small demand at any one institution.
The URI Graduate School of Oceanography offers an annual professional development opportunity in ocean acoustics through the Discovery of Sound in the Sea (DOSITS) project funded by ONR.11 It has offered an annual four-part webinar series with a suite of resources since 2015. Topics range from fundamentals of ocean acoustics to advanced topics, such as acoustic propagation modeling. The intended audience is the international decision-making/regulatory community; however, this popular annual program, which has thousands of registrants from around the world, also has participants from industry and academia, including graduate students interested in ocean acoustics. Each year, the webinar series has a different focus. Past webinars are archived on the DOSITS website.12 Participants who view all four webinars each year and complete post-webinar reflections can request a certificate of professional development.
Northwestern Michigan College offers a yearly Seafloor Detection Schemes course to personnel from the Office of Naval Intelligence, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and National Security Agency along with other industry-specific training programs using sonar.
Military–Academic Collaborative Program
Since 2019, ONR has sponsored the Scientist to Sea (S2S) program, to increase the connection between academia and naval operations.13 S2S is an opportunity targeted at ocean acousticians and oceanographers to observe firsthand the activities of a submarine crew exercising its detection, classification, and tracking operations on a simulated “watch floor.” The hydrophone arrays, acoustic sensors, or “ears” of the submarine are displayed, allowing scientists to view the evolution of the horizontal and vertical angular distribution and experience an undersea world rich in sounds from whales, fish, and other biological activities, earthquakes and volcanoes, merchant shipping, and friendly and hostile submarines. Scientists can also tour a submarine or a P-8 Poseidon aircraft (a modified Boeing 737) used for hunting foreign submarines.
Professional Society Programs
ASA conducts the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience or Internship in Acoustics (SURIEA)14 and the bi-yearly ASA School.15 SURIEA is a 12-week paid summer undergraduate research program for students interested in acoustics. This intensive program in acoustics is designed for underrepresented students from across the country. It emphasizes training, mentoring, research, and preparing students for graduate studies and careers in acoustics. The ASA School is a 2-day course for graduate students and early-career acousticians held in association with the ASA meeting. It includes presentations by prominent acousticians, roundtables, demonstrations, and discussion groups to expand on the lecture materials and foster communication across disciplines and technical
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10 See https://eos.unh.edu/center-acoustics-research-education/education/bioacoustic-summer-school-seabass.
11 See https://dosits.org/decision-makers/webinar-series.
12 Recordings of DOSITS webinar archives can be found here: see https://dosits.org/decision-makers/webinar-series.
13 Written response to committee from ONR, December 2023.
areas. Both programs are driven by student and mentor interest and are examples of programs that could include ocean acoustics focus.
MTS, in collaboration with Northwestern Michigan College and Rutgers University, offers Marine Technology Summer Workshops,16 which are week-long summer experiences for undergraduate students and lifelong learners. They are geared toward learners with little to no experience using various marine technologies. They offer students a chance to learn about several technologies and deploy equipment to gather data applied to various investigations. The Northwestern Michigan College workshops provide an opportunity to spend time on research vessels, collect data using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), sonar, sensors, and buoys, and learn about the multiple applications of these technologies. The Rutgers University participants gain hands-on experience prepping, ballasting, deploying, and piloting underwater gliders. The Rutgers University Glider Summer Workshops17 are designed to offer a chance to not only learn about underwater gliders but also deploy the equipment, including sonar, to gather data applied to various investigations.
Microcredential Programs
A growing focus for acoustics training programs are stackable short courses, or microcredentials and digital badges. Used in the computer science field for more than 20 years, microcredentials are spreading rapidly across other disciplines. These are short, competency-based training opportunities that allow a learner to demonstrate mastery in a particular area. They are smaller in scale and scope than traditional education courses and represent specific knowledge and/or skills acquired and demonstrated. Once a learner proves their competency, a digital badge (or some other mechanism of acknowledgment) is issued. Digital badges are a transferrable symbol used to verify attaining specific competencies and can be added to resumes, LinkedIn profiles, or other social media platforms as instant recognition of a skill set. Microcredentials can be “stacked” in various ways—like interlocking blocks—to build toward competencies needed to attain specific certification and/or employment goals.
Microcredentials have many benefits, including the following:
- Personalization: The learner can create their own pathway based on interests and career goals and address gaps in skills;
- Flexibility: This approach better suits the needs of the learner, allowing for “just-in-time” learning scenarios or pursuing microcredentials over time to accommodate busy schedules; and
- Performance Basis: This is based on demonstrated mastery of the subject matter, giving the learner an opportunity to demonstrate skills accrued not only from the discrete segment but over a lifetime.
Microcredentials can be useful for people wishing to (1) apply skill sets acquired during military service, (2) provide acknowledgment of skills acquired on the job, (3) have a vehicle for employment retraining, or (4) add skills to their occupational toolkit. They can also provide opportunities for people who wish to acquire new “targeted” skills but are not interested in full degree programs or certificates. Microcredentialing should be stackable, capitalize on skill sets for a range of workers, and encourage engagement pathways for lifelong learning to promote personal growth, keep pace with technological changes, and capitalize on opportunities within the ocean economy. This shift to a more skills-based credentialing framework will also enable a broader pool of diverse talent to support this growing workforce need.
MTS, in collaboration with community members, is creating an infrastructure to issue a variety of stackable microcredentials addressing core competencies (including sonar) required for employment in the ocean economy. They will be endorsed by accredited partner institutions and directly address workforce preparation needs and improve the ability of educational institutions to transition some of their programs to skills-based credentialing to better prepare students for the workforce in a compressed time frame. This approach can be pursued by early-career
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16 See https://www.mtsociety.org/summer-camps.
17 See https://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/academics/glider-technology-camp.
individuals looking to get a start in the industry, people looking to “upskill” and improve their current knowledge and skill sets, people looking to “reskill” and change industries, and people interested in receiving formal recognition for the skills they already possess.
Graduate-level educational institutions are also working to carve content into credentials. UNH offers three credentials related to ocean acoustics: Underwater Acoustics, Bioacoustics, and Digital Signal Processing. Each credential is achieved by completing two UNH graduate-level courses.
CONCLUSION 3-5: The diversity of ocean acoustics learning opportunities is starting to rise; however, more opportunities are needed to sufficiently prepare the volume of people and amount of knowledge required for the future marine technology workforce.
SUMMARY
The anticipated need for a skilled workforce with ocean acoustics knowledge is increasing. New opportunities will require knowledge, skills, and capabilities that support technical advances exploiting ocean knowledge and competencies common to the relevant industries and government agencies, which means ocean acousticians with advanced degrees to provide scientific and engineering leadership and advanced cutting-edge research and workers with skills and technical competencies common to the industries they serve. To provide this knowledge, ocean acoustics content and courses within colleges and universities, plus additional educational programs (e.g., microcredentials, short summary subjects, and alternative education methods), should be fostered or expanded. Co-op programs between academic institutions and industry, USN labs, or other government organizations are also needed to provide vital hands-on education to acquire skills related to state-of-the-art technologies. These requirements are addressed in the Programmatic Gaps and Curriculum Gaps sections of Chapter 6, where opportunities and collaborations across sectors are explored to fill gaps between workforce needs and educational programs.
