Our Students – Institute of Ocean Sciences – Cassandra Bosma
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Transcript
I didn't really know what to expect when I came to work for the Canadian Hydrographic Service but I've come to realize that it's a really big responsibility.
I'm Cassandra Bosma. I attend the University of Victoria and I'm working as a summer student at the Institute of Ocean Sciences.
As a co-op student here with the Canadian Hydrographic Service, I am working as a geomatics technician to aid hydrographers in collecting and processing bathymetric data to prepare it for chart production.
Bathymetric data is the depth of the ocean, basically the topography below the sea level, and it's used to create charts for safe navigation along our coasts.
Some days I am on the boat collecting data with a MINOS that collects water column data from the top to the bottom to help calibrate our multi-beam echo sounder. Some days I am on the beach doing tide levels to process our tide gauges. And other days I'm in the office working with GIS software to process our collected data.
I have to say the coolest part of the job is being able to feel like I'm accomplishing something on a day-to-day basis, like something that I am producing is going to be useful; as well as going out on the ships and collecting the data.
The kind of opportunities you get through cooperative work is something you just can't gain in classes. I get to work with some of the best senior hydrographers in Canada and I get full access to all of their knowledge, so any questions I may have, they're able to answer and help me along on my learning journey.
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