To support development in the maritime field, one needs technology capable of monitoring the oceans, marginal seas, and coastal areas thoroughly and systematically, including through remote sensing (RS) from space. Remote Sensing technology, along with in situ measurements, is essential for monitoring marine natural resources & for assessing climate and human impacts in coastal areas, e.g., monitoring coral reefs & marine utilization planning for various sectors of the economy such as tourism, for example. It is also crucial for monitoring and studying climate variability and change, biodiversity and ecosystems, and changes in the atmospheric, marine, and coastal domains.
This project develops the capacity among early career scientists in developing countries through several initiatives. First is the virtual capacity building development (CBD) program on the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform that has been successfully delivered twice in 2021 and 2022 during the pandemic Covid-19 and the movement control order (MCO) era. There were 13 modules presented on the pre-recorded videos plus, a student-mentorship program to foster active interactions between our experts and participants. The MOOC wins a silver award during the International University Carnival on E-Learning (IUCEL) 2021. Second is the physical CBD program held in December 2022 in Malaysia. The CBD comprises four (4) days of tutorial capacity building at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, and two (2) days of conference meetings at KSL Hotel and Resort Johor Bahru. The recipients of the physical CDB are selective and priority is given to the alumni of the MOOCs to strengthen their knowledge, practical exercise, and social interactions among peers and instructors.
The physical CBD is based on five (5) dimensions; science (10%), application (26%), student-mentorship project (25%), project presentation (10%), and field excursion (28%). The domain of student project clusters focuses on different aspects of climate resilience including the climate-ocean, ocean colour and habitat modelling, sea level rise, and shoreline changes. Social aspects have been taken seriously into account in the CBD model. In addition to the field excursion at the mid-week end, common lodging and meals for instructors and students enhance the interactions.
Among the lesson learnt during the Pandemic Covid-19 pause is the opportunity for global knowledge exchange without a physical boundary. Through a hybrid model of CBD, most of the fundamental lectures, basic practices, and individual projects are provided through the online MOOC platform, while the complicated practical, social interactions and group projects are emphasized during the physical CBD.