A final research paper will be prepared by each student. The Field Marine Science course will consist of an 8-12 day field exercise in representative coastal sites. Faculty members with diverse interests will accompany the students, participate in pre-trip discussions and evaluate the product developed by each student. The course is designed to familiarize students with habitats and research conditions different from those they experience on the Northern Gulf Coast. Field trip locations are selected on the basis of faculty and student interest, economics, and availability of logistic support.
Students pay their room and board costs for the field exercise.
The course is primarily for graduate students, but advanced undergraduates may enroll with consent of instructor. Both MAS 588 and MAS 583 may be taken for credit when each is taught in a different environment. The course familiarizes the student with the taxonomic breadth of phytoplankton, bacterioplankton and zooplankton in estuaries, coastal seas and open oceans. Students will learn fundamental, as well as 'cutting-edge', field, laboratory and statistical techniques. Two hours of lectures each week will be accompanied by two hours of hands-on laboratory work.