This program focuses on learning the identity and evolutionary relationships of marine multicellular organisms. Oceans support an extremely diverse group of autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms, which together comprise an important fraction of Earth’s biodiversity. The proximity of Evergreen's campus to various marine habitats provides excellent opportunities to study many diverse groups of organisms. Emphasis will be placed on learning the regional marine flora and fauna. Students will learn fundamental laboratory and field techniques and will be required to complete a research project utilizing the available microscopy facilities (light and scanning electron microscopes). Workshops on the statistical analysis of biodiversity will provide a quantitative aspect to our work. This program will include extensive work in both the lab and field.