MS-441 Biology of Molluscs. The Mollusca is the second largest group on animals and perhaps the most diverse in terms of morphological, ecological and behavioral variations. This course offers an evolutionary, functional, and ecologic approach to studying this important group of Organisms. MS-451 Coastal Environmental Oceanography. This course examines the interaction of biological, chemical, physical, geological and ecological ocean processes as applied to coastal environments.
Emphasis is placed on environmental management issues of the coastal zone.
Topics include water quality analysis, barrier island geology and ecology, estuarine pollution, beach defense and biological implications in areas of coastal up welling and coastal fronts. MS-464 Biological Oceanography. Interdisciplinary study of the interactions between biological communities and the ocean environment as seen by distributions of coastal plankton, fish, and benthic invertebrates. Projects will involve boat trips to sample populations and to quantitatively document environmental variables with state of the art equipment, laboratory and field experiments to determine rate processes, and visits to nearby field and government laboratories. Examples of project topics include transport of plankton at barrier island passes, effect of submarine banks on fish populations, ground truth data for satellite imagery, and other current topics in biological oceanography.