The School of Oceanography, which had its beginnings in 1930, offers courses and conducts basic research in oceanography, the science that examines physical, geological, chemical, and biological processes in the ocean and interactions of the ocean with the earth, the biosphere, and the atmosphere. Because the science of oceanography is interdisciplinary in nature, joint programs are maintained in the areas of astrobiology, atmospheric sciences, biochemistry, environmental chemistry, geochemistry, geophysical fluid dynamics, geophysics, and marine biology and botany with the departments of Applied Mathematics , Astronomy , Atmospheric Sciences , Botany , Chemistry , Genetics , Geological Sciences , Geophysics , Microbiology , and Zoology , and with the other units in the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences . Among the wide variety of courses open to students are molecular approaches to oceanographic questions, marine microbiology, zooplankton ecology, aquatic organic geochemistry, estuarine circulation and mixing, ocean and climate variation, sedimentary dynamics and history of the ocean, marine science of coastal zone management, and human impacts on the ocean. Summer-quarter instruction is offered both on the main campus and at the Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island. Advising The Student Services Office is staffed by an academic counselor, who assists students with curriculum, scheduling, and career counseling.
Students also consult with a faculty adviser.
Each year the School participates in a broad range of oceanographic investigations, ranging from individual research projects to multidisciplinary or multiuniversity projects. Major biological programs are carried out in Puget Sound, in the waters of the continental shelf off Washington and California, and in the North Pacific Ocean. Chemical oceanography includes study of the distribution and fluxes of organic and inorganic chemicals and stable and radioactive isotopes in the water column and sediments on local, regional, and global scales with special emphasis on the ocean carbon cycle. Geological investigations include theoretical studies and field experiments on sediment motion and sedimentary processes. This work ranges from the deep waters of the Scotian Rise in the Atlantic Ocean to Prudhoe Bay, Barents Sea, New Guinea, the Amazon, and the east and west coasts of the United States.