Marine Science (MSCI)
The process of earth denudation with emphasis on chemistry of weathering, stream and erosion hydraulics, quantitative analysis of land form evolution.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 501
Geological and physical controls on the morphology, development, and stability of coastlines. Analysis of waves and erosional processes, and coastal zone morphodynamics. Several required field trips.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 502
An overview of the microbial world including a survey of the distribution, functioning, and diversity of microorganisms in natural systems. Discusses the crucial roles that microorganisms play in ecosystem function, biogeochemical cycles, and environmental quality.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 502
CL: 2020.
MATLAB-based course in processing, analysis, and visualization of large oceanographic data sets. Includes scalar and vector time series measured at fixed locations as well as shipboard surveys of oceanographic characteristics varying both in 3-D and in time. Methods and techniques are relevant to other geoscience disciplines.
Phylogenetic and comparative aspects of anatomy, physiology, reproduction, and embryology of the invertebrates. Three lecture and one three-hour laboratory period per week.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 510
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Research
Systematic, ecologic, biogeographic, and evolutionary aspects of paleontology. Lectures, practical exercises, occasional field trips.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 511
Marine microfossils; distribution, ecology, paleoecology, and biostratigraphy; use of microfossils in marine sediments to study oceanographic history. Three lectures and two laboratory hours per week.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 515
Investigation of low temperature chemical reactions controlling the geochemistry of the earth’s surface. Emphasis on CO2, carbonates, oxidation reduction, thermodynamics, isotopes, biogeochemistry.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 521
Introduction to radioactivity and the use of radionuclides to study environmental processes, including age-dating and biogeochemical cycling in aquatic systems. Two lectures per week.
Diversity, distribution, physiology, ecology, evolution, and economic importance of marine algal, seagrass, and mangrove communities. Three lecture and three laboratory hours per week. Scheduled field trips are required.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 525
Management and conservation of aquatic and marine resources, with emphasis on fisheries. Data procurement and analysis; commercial and recreational fisheries; sociological, political, legal, and environmental factors that affect fishery management; and fish biodiversity.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 535
Phylogeny, morphology, behavior, and ecology of fishes. Three lecture and 3 laboratory hours plus three field trips to be arranged.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 536
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Research
Introduction to the practical and scientific aspects of the commercial culture of freshwater and marine organisms. Three lecture hours per week. One all-day field trip required.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 537
The identification of behavioral adaptations of estuarine and marine organisms: their ecology, physiology, development, and evolutionary history; field observations.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 538
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Research
A comprehensive study of the origin and development of the major structural features of the ocean basins and the continental margins. Discussion of the techniques used in obtaining geologic data and the interpretation of sedimentary processes, vulcanism, and the stratigraphy of the ocean basins.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 545
Problems of sequence stratigraphy resolved with graphic computer simulations. Sedimentary fill of basins by carbonates and/or clastics tracked as a function of rate of sediment accumulation, tectonic behavior and sea level. Includes laboratory.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 550
An introduction to the principles of population genetics, with emphasis on the origin, maintenance, and significance of genetic variation in natural populations.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 552
Graduation with Leadership Distinction: GLD: Research
Introduces the field of conservation and explores the intersection between conservation and environmental health with a particular focus on coastal and marine case studies.
Physical and geological processes controlling the formation and evolution of beach, barrier, and nearshore environments, including discussion of coastal management issues.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 557
The formulation and simulation of compartment models of marine and terrestrial ecosystems with complex nutrient cycling, food chains, and energy flow. Analog and digital simulation techniques. Ecosystem stability and sensitivity. Organization, structure, and diversity of an ecosystem.
Small-scale processes in the atmospheric boundary layers, including energy budget, radiation, soil heat transfer, humidity, viscous flows, turbulence, momentum and heat exchanges, evaporation, and marine atmospheric boundary layer.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 568
Exploration of how human activities affect marine natural populations, species, communities and ecosystems, including threats to biodiversity; approaches to marine conservation; and ecological and evolutionary responses to anthropogenic disturbance.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 574
Structure, dynamics, and interactions between populations and communities in marine ecosystems. Attendance at designated departmental seminars is required. Three lecture hours per week.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 575
Interdisciplinary examination of the distribution, reproduction, survival, and historical variation of the principal commercial marine fisheries.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 576
Structure, productivity, and biodiversity of coral reefs, emphasizing their sensitivity, stability, and sustainability. Taught as an extended field experience with daily lectures and guided research activities.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 577
Functional adaptation of marine plants and animals to ecological stresses including pollution. Three lecture hours per week.
The physical mechanism responsible for interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere and the influence of air-sea interaction on atmospheric and oceanic dynamics and thermodynamics on a wide variety of spatial/temporal scales.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 579
This course provides knowledge of various techniques used in satellite remote sensing of the oceans. Key skills will be developed in satellite data processing, image analysis, and hands-on research.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 580
Estuarine kinematics and dynamics; classification of estuaries; estuarine circulation and mixing. Scheduled field trips are required.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 581
Basic principles of fluid statics and dynamics. Conservation of mass, momentum, and energy; viscosity, vorticity, and boundary layers with examples from the marine environment. Applications to and analysis of ocean currents and waves.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 582
Geological and geochemical processes in salt marshes. Methods of geological research in marshes including instrumental techniques, sampling design, and data analysis. Two lectures per week plus four weekends of project oriented fieldwork and/or equivalent lab work. Scheduled field trips are required.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 583
Descriptive oceanography of mangrove and coral reef coasts with emphasis on physical processes. Taught as an extended field experience with daily lectures and guided research activities.
Influence of wind on coastal systems, with emphasis on nearshore currents, sediment transport and bedforms, aeolian transport, and dunes. Minimum Junior standing required.
Cross-listed course: GEOG 590
Current developments in marine science selected to meet faculty and student interests. Course content varies and will be announced by title in schedule of courses.
Study of the chemical reactions and processes affecting the distribution of chemical species in natural systems. Three lecture hours per week.
Cross-listed course: CHEM 624
Examines the physiology and ecology of phytoplankton, including environmental controls on community composition, primary productivity, and detection and characterization of water quality (eutrophication) and harmful algal blooms.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 627
An overview of Earth’s climate history during Cenozoic. Emphasis will be placed on Pleistocene glacial-interglacial climate variability and understanding the proxies used to reconstruct past climate changes.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 711
Relationship of sequence stratigraphy to sea level variations, tectonics and sedimentation. Construction and analyses of paleogeographic maps, regional cross-sections, and chronostratigraphic charts.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 716
Biological, geological, and physical processes that influence the cyling of major bioactive elements (C, O, N, P, S) in marine waters and sediments.
Cross-listed course: BIOL 752
Explores the intersection between conservation and environmental health with a particular focus on coastal and marine case studies.
Cross-listed course: ENHS 755
CL: 2020.
Concepts in systems of models and computer simulations in examining environmental interactions, predicting environmental impact, and facilitating the process of environmental planning. Lab practice in analog and digital simulation and data interpretation.
Primarily for teachers. Marine science materials with emphasis on coastal environments. Field exercises.
Primarily for teachers. Marine science materials with emphasis on coastal environments. Field exercises.
Geographic and hydrodynamic aspects of oceanography, with emphasis on estuaries. Physical properties of sea water and theories and methods involved in ocean currents, air-sea interaction, waves, and tides.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 781
Chemical characteristics of sea water, distribution of properties, and chemical processes in the oceans, with emphasis on estuaries.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 782
Techniques in the analysis of oceanographic data sequences, including filtering techniques, fast Fourier transformers, and empirical orthogonal functions.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 783
Equations governing the large-scale dynamics of the atmosphere and ocean, rotational influence, shallow water equations, vorticity, quasi-geostrophic dynamics, Rossby waves, energy and enstrophy, and geostrophic turbulence.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 784
Elementary applications of the basic equations, scale analysis, planetary boundary layer, atmospheric oscillations, synoptic and mesoscale systems, hydrodynamic instability, cyclogenesis, frontogenesis, energy cycle, momentum budget, and tropical motion systems.
Cross-listed course: GEOL 785
Directed research topics to be individually assigned and supervised by graduate faculty.
Problems associated with coastal population growth and development. Emphasis is on the working group approach to ameliorating impacts on ecosystem and human health.
Cross-listed course: ENHS 795
In depth research methods and techniques in preparation of thesis or dissertation.
Advanced topics in Marine Science research presented in Seminar format. Class meets weekly, every semester, during the Marine Science Program seminar.