Victoria E Simons

Marine Science and Policy, College of Earth, Ocean and Environment

University of Delaware

I worked with Dr. Jonathan Cohen and Dr. Matthew Oliver at the University of Delaware to help make the Oceans in the News site a reality. I received my Bachelor's in Zoology with a minor in Microbiology from The Ohio State University in 2016, and my Master's in Marine Bioscience from the University of Delaware in 2019. I currently work at Battelle Memorial Institute as a Marine Biologist, working mostly on marine science projects. I am primarily interested in marine and aquatic biology - especially concerning education, outreach, and conservation - as well as aquatic ecology, molluscs, toxicology, and harmful algae.

Contact: victoriaesimons@gmail.com or vesimons@udel.edu or simonsv@battelle.org

Project Leader, Website Contributor

Project Leader

Oceans in the News part of Oceans in the News
Interpreting scientific data is one of the most challenging skills students face today. Students are overloaded with information from various media sources, and often lack both the technical skills to analyze data and the ability to recognize the overarching story the data support. The Oceans in the News course uses polar science examples to address these technical and narrative challenges. Students will develop proficiency in data visualization and its application to the analysis of news stories about polar regions.

Website Content Contributions

Course Modules (7), Course (1)

Course Modules (7)

Module 6 Capstone – Reversing the Process part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This final module is a capstone project where students have to use what they have learned up until now to create their own news article based on a data set they find. The idea behind this project is that students ...

show 6 more Course Modules

Module 5 Human Dimensions in the Poles part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This unit covers the concept of bioaccumulation of contaminants in a food web, all the way up to humans. Students learn about what constitutes a contaminant, how contaminants can accumulate in an organism and move ...

Module 3 Sea Ice as an Indicator of Climate Change part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This module focuses on the differences between the Arctic and Antarctic in terms of physical factors like sea ice cover. This is the first polar content-heavy module of the course, and it relies on skills built in ...

Module 4 Polar Ecosystems part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This module follows logically from the previous and gives a biological context to sea ice. Students will review knowledge about seasonal trends in sea ice and learn how this impacts organisms that live in polar ...

Module 1 Living Narratives part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This module engages students with a variety of different viewpoints, encouraging them to understand how different people can view the world. Students will work in small groups to analyze a "living ...

Module 2 Introduction to R and Pair Programming part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This unit is designed to take students with no programming experience and introduce them to R, a programming environment commonly used by scientists for analyzing and visualizing data. By introducing students to ...

Optional Module Accelerating Sea Level Rise part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
This is another, optional module, styled after modules 3, 4, and 5. It covers changes in sea levels over many years, and allows students to look at the differences between a linear and quadratic equation and what ...

Course (1)

Oceans in the News - Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media part of Oceans in the News:Oceans in the News – Polar Ocean Science, Data, and the Media
Interpreting scientific data is one of the most challenging skills students face today. Students are overloaded with information from various media sources, and often lack both the technical skills to analyze data ...