|
 PROGRAM
OVERVIEW
The
Ocean Sciences
Department includes
faculty and students
involved in oceanography
and other marine
sciences and
sponsors undergraduate
and graduate
courses in these
disciplines.
Through faculty
sponsors, students
have access to
a wide variety
of research facilities
and equipment,
including on-campus
analytical chemistry,
geology and molecular
biology laboratories
for marine research,
computing and
imaging facilities,
an on-shore marine
laboratory two
miles from campus
(Long Marine
Laboratory) with
aquariums and
holding tanks
that are supplied
with running
sea water, and
a unique field
station on Año
Nuevo Island
(19 miles north
of Santa Cruz)
especially suited
for studies on
pinnipeds and
marine birds.
The department
supports collaborative
studies utilizing
the innovative
technologies
of the nearby
Monterey Bay
Aquarium Research
Institute, the
Naval Postgraduate
School, Stanford
University's
Hopkins Marine
Station, CSU
Moss Landing
Laboratory, and
others. Students
may also work
at other University
of California
facilities, including
the Bodega Marine
Laboratories
and Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
In addition to
research and
instructional
activities along
the California
coast, interests
of the core
faculty and
their students
include biological,
chemical and
physical oceanography,
plus sediment,
marine organic
and trace metal
biogeochemistry,
marine plankton,
phytoplankton
ecology, paleoceanography,
aquatic microbial
ecology, ecological
modeling and
remote sensing
(satellite oceanography),
coastal circulation
processes and
the development
of software applications
for real-time
data acquisition
and data visualization,
midwater ecology,
climatology and
many more.
Ocean Sciences
affiliated
faculty in
other departments
represent a deep
resource of research
interests and
methodologies
including those
pertaining to
coral reef and
kelp forest ecology,
plate tectonics
and continental
margins, marine
mammal behavior
and physiology,
and natural products
from marine organisms.
Student research
projects have
included participation
in major scientific
expeditions to
various marine
environments
ranging from
polar regions
to the tropics.
The University
of California
at Santa Cruz
was opened in
1965. It is a
2,000 acre campus
of redwood forest
and meadowland
overlooking the
scenic Monterey
Bay. Nearly half
of the 15,000
undergraduates
and most of the
1,500 graduate
students major
in a discipline
of the natural
sciences. Students
enjoy close partnerships
with quality
faculty, state-of-the-art
labs, exciting
opportunities
for field research,
and the resources
of the world's
finest public
university system.
Undergraduate
Programs
Although
offering a range
of undergraduate
courses, the
Ocean Sciences
Department presently
offers only graduate
degrees. The
undergraduate
major in marine
biology, sponsored
by the Biological
Sciences Departments,
includes required
and elective
courses in ocean
sciences, and
there is an ocean
sciences concentration
in Earth sciences
for undergraduates.
Students
interested in
ocean sciences
should major
in a discipline
such as biology,
marine biology,
chemistry, Earth
sciences, physics,
or mathematics
and take ocean
sciences-related
electives. Students
with a bachelor's
degree in one
of these disciplines
or equivalent
course work may
apply directly
for admission
to the graduate
program through
the Division
of Graduate Studies.
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