"Steering our young people towards a sustainable blue future and a healthy Ocean"
The £50 million Rural Growth Deal for Argyll and Bute has committed £1.75 million capital and £750,000 revenue funding to develop the infrastructure and resources for the UK’s first dedicated Ocean Learning Centre, an ocean literacy and blue economy STEM hub for learners of all ages.
The Ocean Learning Centre will motivate the young people of today to use their creative potential to turn into the innovators and workforce of tomorrow that can deliver the marine-related sustainable economic transformation of the region. It will also contribute towards UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 'Life Below Water' to conserve and sustainably use the Ocean, seaW and marine resources for sustainable development.
The Ocean Learning Centre aims to...
+ nurture young people's connection with the coastal and marine environment
+ enhance Ocean literacy
+ demonstrate the problem-solving power of science, technology, engineering, arts and maths subjects in the service of the Ocean
+ contribute to new knowledge about the sea through pupil science
+ promote innovation and blue careers
+ support teaching and educators of STEAM subjects
+ grow connections between pupils, employers, parents and educators
An existing building, previously a nursery operated by UHI Argyll, will be refurbished and extended, designed to complement the Ocean Explorer Centre. The project is currently scheduled for delivery by 2028.
The Ocean Learning Centre will be surrounded by iQQTV' advanced research laboratory, the UHI marine science university campus, the European Marine Science Park with c 30 ocean-related companies and sits on a peninsula with access to different coastal habitats and iQQTV' pontoon and research vessels.
The facility will be available for other organisations to deliver outreach and career workshops and events and will also be available for community events when not in need for Ocean education.
Project lead: Dr Anuschka Miller
Our Education Officers are constantly developing new resources and projects, drawing on the expertise of their research colleagues.
We work with schools, clubs, and home educators.
We deliver sessions from nursery to Advanced Higher levels, currently covering the topics listed below. We take a multi- or transdisciplinary approach to Ocean learning, but individual workshops can be made to fit into curriculum areas:
BIOLOGY
+ Marine mammals in Scotland
+ Flapper skate biology and conservation
+ Algae - diversity, usefulness, sustainability
+ Seagrass and oyster restoration
+ Invasive species in the marine environment
+ The seashore and its foodchains
+ Scottish seabirds
+ Plankton / planktoscope surveys
CHEMISTRY
+ Dark oxygen production
+ Ocean acidification
+ Litter and plastics in the marine environment includes bioplastic development
PHYSICS
+ Underwater sounds
+ Light in the sea
+ A moving ocean - ocean currents
+ Ocean and climate
TECHNOLOGY / ENGINEERING
+ Flying, floating and diving robots
GEOGRAPHY
+ Protecting and restoring the marine environment
+ Our World from Space
+ Polar environments and climate change
+ Mapping the seabed
+ Gender issues in the ocean
CAREERS
+ Aquaculture / food from the sea
+ Energy from the sea
+ Entrepreneurship
OUTDOOR LEARNING
+ Seashore surveys / safaris
+ Nearshore ROV surveys
+ Litter surveys
OTHER SUBJECTS
+ History of marine science
Please get in touch if you consider inviting us to contribute to your teaching:
This page is under construction
Here are some current / recent projects we have delivered
+ ROBOPRENEURS, 2025-26 (funding from SSEN)
+ STEM Engine, 2025-27 (funded by Nadara)
+ GENESIS, 2024-25 (funded by a Scottish Government Climate Engagement Fund)
+ 2025
+ (funded by NERC & UKSPA, via ASDC)
Thanks to a generous donation by Oban sailor Robert Kincaid and family we have the following resources for outdoor education
+ ROV: Fifish V6 Expert
+ Microscopes
+ Planktoscope (under development)
+ Refractometers (measuring salinity)
+ Thermal camera