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Ocean Sciences
A312 Earth and Marine Sciences Building
(831) 459-4730
http://oceansci.ucsc.edu/
Program Description
| Faculty | Course
Descriptions
The Ocean Sciences Department includes faculty and students involved
in oceanography and other marine sciences and sponsors undergraduate
and graduate courses in these disciplines. Through faculty sponsors,
students have access to a wide variety of research facilities and
equipment, including on-campus analytical chemistry, geology, and
molecular biology laboratories for marine research; computing and
imaging facilities; an onshore marine laboratory two miles from
campus (Long Marine Laboratory), with aquariums and holding tanks
that are supplied with running sea water; and a unique field station
on Aņo Nuevo Island (19 miles north of Santa Cruz), especially suited
for studies on pinnipeds and marine birds. The department supports
collaborative studies utilizing the innovative technologies of the
nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Naval Postgraduate
School, Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, CSU Moss Landing
Laboratory, and others. Students may also work at other University
of California facilities, including the Bodega Marine Laboratories
and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
In addition to research and instructional activities along the
California coast, interests of the core faculty and their students
include biological, chemical, and physical oceanography; plus sediment,
marine, organic, and trace metal biogeochemistry; marine plankton,
phytoplankton ecology, paleoceanography, aquatic microbial ecology,
ecological modeling, and remote sensing (satellite oceanography);
coastal circulation processes and the development of software applications
for real-time data acquisition and data visualization; and midwater
ecology, climatolgoy, and many more.
Ocean sciences affiliated faculty in other departments represent
a deep resource of research interests and methodologies including
those pertaining to coral reef and kelp forest ecology, plate tectonics
and continental margins, marine mammal behavior and physiology,
and natural products from marine organisms. Student research projects
have included participation in major scientific expeditions to various
marine environments ranging from polar regions to the tropics.
Although offering a range of undergraduate courses, the Ocean Sciences
Department presently offers only graduate degrees. The undergraduate
major in marine biology, sponsored by the Biological Sciences Departments,
includes required and elective courses in ocean sciences; and there
is an ocean sciences concentration in Earth sciences for undergraduates.
Students interested in ocean sciences should major in a discipline
such as biology, marine biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, physics,
or mathematics and take ocean sciences-related electives. Students
with a bachelor's degree in one of these disciplines or equivalent
course work may apply directly for admission to the graduate program
through the Division of Graduate Studies.
The graduate programs in ocean sciences are designed to prepare
students for careers in research, teaching, and other environmentally
related endeavors. The fundamental requirement for admission to
the program is substantial evidence of superior scholarship and
aptitude for original research. Preparation
in any of the basic natural science disciplines, equivalent to requirements
for a bachelor's degree, is expected.
The program leading to a doctorate in ocean sciences is designed
with a core training in oceanography for all students, supplemented
and focused by advanced training in oceanography and in the traditional
disciplines (biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, and physics) as
chosen by the student and her or his advisers. The core training
is provided through core courses in ocean sciences; a subset of
which is taken by all students in the first two years and reinforced
by the student's seminars throughout the program. In addition to
core courses in ocean sciences, preparation includes upper-division/graduate
courses in ocean sciences and in the specialty discipline, graduate
seminars, independent research credits, participation in departmental
student seminar series, and a minimum requirement of two quarters
as a teaching assistant. There is no formal language requirement.
The results of a scheduling meeting in the first quarter of enrollment
are used to map out the course program in the first year. The course
program is determined by a faculty advisory committee in consultation
with the student; and courses are drawn from ocean sciences and
other science departments (e.g., biology, chemistry, Earth sciences,
physics). No later than fall quarter of their second year, students
must take a departmental oral exam that tests knowledge of ocean
sciences and general expertise in their parent discipline. An oral
and a written qualifying examination are required, generally in
the second or third year of graduate study. A dissertation based
on original research is required, and the final examination is a
public oral defense of the dissertation. Students are encouraged
to prepare their dissertation, or certain chapters of it, in a form
suitable for publication.
Sample Pathways
The pathways within the ocean sciences Ph.D. program are differentiated
from related degrees in the traditional disciplines by their focus
on global-scale problems and interactions, a focus on the ocean,
and their inherently interdisciplinary approach. Interdisciplinary
projects across and between pathways are encouraged, as are interactions
with faculty in related departments.
Biological Oceanography
This area involves the interactions of organisms with their chemical
and physical environments. It includes research on the physiology
and ecology of organisms, but differs from marine biology in the
focus on the oceanographic setting of the organism in relationship
to, for example, biogeochemical cycling and the effects of ocean
currents on distributions of organisms. The focus is mainly on small
oceanic life-forms (plankton and bacteria, molecular ecology) and
their roles in biogeochemical cycles of marine systems.
Chemical Oceanography
Chemical interactions of trace metals and radionuclides in the sea
are the focus of this group. Research includes development of analytical
techniques and measurement of trace species in seawater and investigation
of the effects and interactions of trace elements on biological
processes using analytical and isotopic approaches.
Geological Oceanography Paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, and
sediment geochemistry are the focus in this pathway. Research areas
include the history of global geochemical cycles and composition
of the ocean on various timescales, the fate and diagenesis of materials
in sediments and their contribution to the paleoceanographic record,
understanding ocean and climate history by the use of records of
stable isotopes and trace elements, and paleoclimate modeling.
Physical Oceanography The physics and dynamics of the ocean and
atmosphere are the main aspects of this program. Research includes
observational, computational, theoretical, and experimental physical
oceanography, geophysical fluid dynamics, ocean acoustics, dynamical
meteorology, climate, and global change.
Requirements for Ph.D. Students in
the Ocean
Sciences Department
To introduce students to the breadth and depth of the field of
ocean sciences, students will be required to complete the following.
- Four core courses. These courses are expected to be completed
in the first year of the program (and prior to taking the departmental
exam) in the sequence listed below:
fall 200, Physical Oceanography
280, Marine Geology
winter 220, Chemical Oceanography
spring 230, Biological Oceanography
- A minimum of three graduate-level or upper-division
elective courses to provide depth in the chosen area of emphasis
or supporting disciplines. These courses are chosen in consultation
with your adviser and department graduate advising committee
(a maximum of one can be a graduate-level seminar (290); at
least two must be graduate or upper-division undergraduate lecture
courses).
- Course 296, Teaching in Ocean Sciences, to be taken
prior or concurrent to being a teaching assistant
- Teaching experience satisfied by two quarters of teaching
assistant experience in Ocean Sciences or supporting departments
- Course 293, a 2-credit Graduate Research Seminar,
required to be taken each spring quarter by all Ph.D. students
- Course 292, attendance at the Ocean Sciences Seminar
series each quarter of enrollment
- A minimum of three courses in Thesis Research (course
299) under direction of a sponsor. Each quarter in residence
a student should take 15 credits of classes; students beyond
their first year will usually take 10 or 15 credits of Thesis
Research each quarter.
- Comprehensive departmental exam. This oral exam, covering
material from the core courses, is usually taken at the beginning
of a student's second year in the program. This exam must be
completed successfully within two years of entering the program.
- Pass the Qualifying Exam to Advance to Candidacy. This exam
requires a written research proposal to be defended orally in
front of the student's dissertation committee and is normally
taken at the beginning of the third year of the program. This
exam is expected to be completed successfully within three years
of entering the program.
- Ph.D. dissertation. The Ph.D. dissertation, demonstrating
original thought and research, must be written, presented in
an open seminar, and defended to the student's thesis committee.
Chapters of the dissertation may be written in publication format,
but must conform to university publication guidelines for submission.
The Ocean Sciences Department offers a master of science degree
in ocean sciences. The degree combines core courses and electives
to provide depth and breadth in ocean sciences, with a focused
thesis to provide experience in original research. Graduates from
the program are excellently prepared to take research or management
positions in organizations concerned with the marine environment,
become educators, or enter doctoral programs in ocean sciences
or related fields.
In addition to undergraduate courses required
for entry into the master's program, students matriculated in
the program must complete at least three of the ocean sciences
core courses, 15 credits of independent research, and three graduate
or upper-division courses in their specific field of interest;
participate for two quarters in an ocean sciences seminar; and
complete a master's thesis, which is presented at an open seminar.
Whereas the doctoral program has an oceanographic orientation,
the marine sciences master's program is even more broad and has
traditionally attracted many students in marine biology and ecology.
As with the doctoral program, students are encouraged to select
a course of study and a research program that draws on the expertise
of the core ocean sciences faculty and any of the affiliated faculty
in other departments. Customized programs of study that combine
related disciplines are supported in the master's program.
Course Requirements for the Ocean Sciences
Master's Degree
To introduce students to the breadth and depth of the field
of ocean sciences, students will be required to complete the following:
- Complete three of the four core courses (one of which must
be course 200, Physical Oceanography). Students are expected
to complete all three of these courses in the first year of
the program, and they should be taken in the order listed below.
All four core courses are recommended. If taken, the fourth
course counts as an elective.
fall 200, Physical Oceanography
280, Marine Geology
winter 220, Chemical Oceanography
spring 230, Biological Oceanography
- A minimum of three graduate-level or upper-division
elective courses to provide depth in the chosen area of emphasis.
These courses are chosen in consultation with an adviser and
department graduate advising committee (only one of these can
be a graduate seminar (290); at least two must be lecture courses).
- A minimum of three courses in Thesis Research (course
299) under direction of a sponsor. Each quarter a student should
take 15 credits of classes. Students beyond their first year
will usually take 10 or 15 credits of Thesis Research
each quarter.
- Course 296, Teaching in Ocean Sciences, to be taken
prior or concurrent to being a teaching assistant
- Teaching experience satisfied by one quarter of teaching
assistant experience
- Attendance at the Ocean Sciences Seminar series (course
292) each quarter of enrollment
- Complete a master's thesis, and present it at an open seminar.
Details regarding admission to graduate standing, financial
aid, examinations, and the requirements for the master of science
and doctor of philosophy degrees are available from the Division
of Graduate Studies; or visit the web site: http://oceansci.ucsc.edu/.
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