The field studies involve acoustic and other remote sensing techniques in conjunction with conventional physical oceanographic measurements. Theoretical studies involve analytical and numerical solutions of the equations of motion. Ecosystem modeling of the Northwest Atlantic is carried out in collaboration with marine biologists and fisheries oceanographers. These include modeling the circulation in coastal embayments ,the North Atlantic circulation and the circulation on the Newfoundland-Labrador Shelf. An active interaction between theory and experiment is encouraged and a balanced understanding of both areas is expected of the graduate student.
Research ships are available to faculty and students from several sources.
The university operates several small research vessels plus a 35m research ship, the Louis M. Lauzier . Larger shelf and deep ocean research vessels are available through the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre in St. John's and the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Halifax. Additional equipment and instrumentation are available through other branches of the university and from government laboratories. The group has its own computing facility, including a large memory AlphaServer 2100, several DEC AlphaServers and many other RISC-based workstations, microcomputers and associated peripherals. Affiliated with the oceanography group are Dr. J. Helbig of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre , Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Drs.