This course provides students with broad training in marine science field methods  through a combination of  lectures and field excursions. Major near-shore habitats of St. James Island and Florida's Big Bend Coast are covered, from estuaries,  salt marshes, and seagrass meadows, to oyster reefs and the benthos. Though the focus is primarily on organisms inhabiting these habitats, we will also cover the chemical and physical characteristics of marine ecosystems as well as many of the pressing marine policy issues for this region.

Marine science is inherently a multidisciplinary field; hence students will strengthen student skills in biology, chemistry, physics, geology, and mathematics. Students will also learn a variety of standard methods for sampling biotic and abiotic parameters of the marine environment, as well as scientific approaches to data analyses and presentation. For more information, see our website here.