Water is essential to life, and the environmental policies related to marine and aquatic ecosystems will provide many of the subjects for our study in this full-year program. When combined with introductory policy components starting with the Pacific Northwest and looking globally, our studies of the biological, physical and chemical characteristics of oceans will provide the valuable knowledge necessary to make instrumental decisions about marine resources and habitats. It is essential to understand the interconnections between biology and ecology in order to make informed decisions about how environmental policy should proceed. This core program is designed to provide scientific skills and policy knowledge necessary to understand problems facing Earth’s ecosystems. Learning will take place through lectures, seminars, a workshop series and biology laboratory exercises. Work in the field and multi-day field trips in fall and winter are also planned to gain first-hand exposure to various marine environments.

In the fall, we will cover standard topics of first year college biology, using marine organisms as our foci. The overall objective of this component is to gain basic familiarity with the biology and ecology of ocean life. We will examine the use and abuse of decision-making authority in order to assess how science and culture interact to safeguard endangered biota. Specific topics will include policies surrounding marine mammals, anadromous fish, ocean acidification, etc.  Fall quarter topics will be mostly gathered from local and regional issues.