This program focuses on marine life, the sea as a habitat, relationships between the organisms and the physical/chemical properties of their environments, and their adaptations to those environments. Students will study marine organisms, elements of biological, chemical and physical oceanography, field sampling methods with associated statistics and laboratory techniques. Throughout the program, students will focus on the identification of marine organisms and aspects of the ecology of selected species. Physiological adaptations to diverse marine environments will be also be emphasized. We will study physical features of marine waters, nutrients, biological productivity and regional topics in marine science. Concepts will be applied via faculty-designed labs/fieldwork and student-designed research projects. Data analysis will be facilitated through the use of Excel spreadsheets and elementary statistics. Seminars will analyze appropriate primary literature on topics from lectures and research projects.

The faculty will facilitate identification of student research projects, which may range from studies of trace metals in local organisms and sediments to ecological investigations of local estuarine animals. Students will design their research projects during winter quarter and write a research proposal that will undergo class-wide peer review. The research projects will then be carried out during spring quarter. The culmination of this research will take the form of written papers and oral presentations of the studen't work during the last week of spring quarter.