From: alliso@david.wheaton.edu (Bryan Allison)
Subject: responses to Marine Biology and related studies
Organization: Wheaton College, IL
Distribution: usa,world
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 07:11:58 GMT

For those of you who are interested, here
are some of the responses I recieved about
Marine Biology and related studies. Thanks
to everyone who responded.  Merry Christmas!!!
-Bryan


Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 17:51:43 PST
From: Derek K. Miller <dkmiller@unixg.ubc.ca>

Subject: Re: Marine Biology and related studies
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
 
I don't think you could leap straight from a Comp Sci degree into an M.Sc.
in biology, any more than I (with a B.Sc. in Marine Biology) could go
into Comp. Sci. You'd need to take a lot of qualifying courses (if not
a whole bachelor's degree) to get the botanical, zoological, ecological,
oceanographic, physical, and chemical background necessary even to decide
what you would like to specialize in.
 
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 92 14:08:22 -0800
From: hptasins@garfield.ucsd.edu (Henry Ptasinski)
Subject: Re: Marine Biology and related studies
> Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Scripps Institution of Oceanography is part of the University of Californa at  
San Diego.  I don't know off hand if Scripps has their own admissions  
procedure, or if you go through UCSD's.

Another one to look at is Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute.

I would suggest you skim through an introductory text on oceanography to
find out what specific areas interest you.  Then, look for schools that
offer programs in that area.  Also, pay special attention to faculty members.  I
met with several profs at my top two school choices to find one I could
relate to.  Your advisor will be your slave-driver for the next 2+ years, so
choose him/her CAREFULLY.

I can't echo this last statement strongly enough.  A mojor factor in how much  
you get out of any graduate program is going to be decided by how good your  
advisor is, not just technically, but in terms of advising/managing/guiding  
graduate students.  If you don't get meaningful guidance early, you could wind  
up spending a lot of time on non-productive research.

A good friend of mine recently quit working toward a PhD due entirely to  
problems working with advisor.  I know several other students who are just  
barely holding on until they finish.  Of course, I also know students who are  
doing very well and are quite satisfied with their progress.  Most of the  
difference is due to their advisors, and is only somewhat dependent on their  
graduate program.

Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 11:41:49 -0500
From: Carrie Lynn Leonard <carrie@wam.umd.edu>
Subject: Re: Marine Biology and related studies

Well, I might be able to answer a few questions.  I got my undergrad
degree in Oceanography with a Physics minor from Humboldt State in CA.
I'm now working on my PhD in Oceanography at the University of Maryland.

With a computer science degree, I would think you would rather go into
the physical aspects of the ocean, but what do I know.  There is a differ-
ence between Biological Oceanography and Marine Biology.  MB is more like
biology with a marine emphasis, whereas B Ocean is the study of the ocean
from a biologists point of view.  There are several schools that have good
programs in Ocean.  The top three are U of Wash, UCSD - Scripps Inst. of
Ocean., and MIT - Woods Hole Ocean. Inst.  After that the list gets extensive.
U of Miami, Texas A&M, Oregon State, UCSB, UC Santa Cruz, U of British Colom-
bia, U of MD, Florida State, and many more.  The key is to write to several
schools and find out what people are doing there and if you would be inter-
ested in working with them.

My research involves physical and biological interactions using satellite
remote sensing data.  WE do a lot of computer work, programming, etc.  It
might be something you'd be interested in because it would combine your
undergrad degree with something new.  Besides you get to work at cool places
like NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (where my advisor is placed).  I am in
no way trying to encourage you to come here - personnally I'd rather be some-
where nearer the coast.  But the satellite aspect seems might it might fit 
your experience well.  Many schools are doing a lot of research with satellite
data - U of Miami being a big one.

Any other questions feel free to write back.  I love my major and the stuff
I'm doing, and like to do anything possiblt to get other people interested in
the oceans.  Good Luck!