Jan 18, 2025  
2013-2014 Graduate Catalog 
    
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2013-2014 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]


Oceanography

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School of Marine Sciences

The University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences (SMS) is one of the nation’s largest marine research and education programs. SMS offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees; its faculty and students conduct basic and applied research on a wide variety of topics, and perform public service related to scientific policy for marine resource and coastal zone management. More than 50 faculty are affiliated with SMS, including full-time, part-time, and cooperating appointments. By its very nature, SMS is an interdisciplinary unit. Areas of expertise and research include physical, biological and chemical oceanography; aquaculture; marine biology; marine geology; marine resource development and policy; seafloor ecology; fish biology; fish pathology; fisheries science; seaweed biology; maritime studies; population genetics; molecular biology and toxicology; marine optics and acoustics and ocean engineering.

SMS faculty provide leadership in research programs that encompass all the world’s oceans, with emphasis on the Gulf of Maine. Faculty are headquartered at the Orono campus of UM and its coastal marine laboratory, the Ira C. Darling Marine Center (see Research Resources), and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Further information on SMS is on the web at: www.umaine.edu/marine.  Further information on the Darling Marine Center is on the web at http://server.dmc.maine.edu.


The School of Marine Sciences offers the following graduate degrees:

  • M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Oceanography;
  • M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Biology;
  • M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Bio-Resources (administered jointly with Food Science and Human Nutrition);
  • M.S. degree in Marine Policy; and
  • Dual M.S. degree in Marine Policy and either Oceanography or Marine Biology.

The School of Marine Sciences offers core and advanced courses in all degree areas. Most specialized courses of study in the subdisciplines of marine science are also provided by various associated departments.  Financial support for graduate students is primarily in the form of research assistantships. Some teaching assistantships are available.

 

Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography


Students in both the M.S. and the Ph.D. degree programs complete three core courses in, respectively, physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the marine system, and supplementary courses based on student needs and interests. Most of the course work is taken in Orono, especially during the student’s first year, whereas thesis or dissertation research may be carried out at Orono or the University of Maine’s marine laboratory, the Ira C. Darling Marine Center or at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland.
Research is a vital part of graduate education and its scope is limited only by the imagination of students and faculty. Oceanography students are in the midst of some of the most exciting ocean research being conducted today, and includes research on the Gulf of Maine as well as around the world. To match your research interests with a faculty member we invite you to explore our research clusters and the web pages of individual faculty.

A total of 30 hours of course credits are required to complete the M.S. in Oceanography. The program is designed to give students as much flexibility as possible so that they can take advantage of the various faculty specialties available to them within the School of Marine Sciences and elsewhere in the University. The student and his or her committee will design a program of study of courses beyond the core course sequence.

Program Coordinator:
Dr. Lee Karp-Boss
Aubert Hall 345,
University of Maine

Orono, ME 04469-5741
207 581 4305
lee.karp-boss@maine.edu
 

Required Core Courses

Advanced Oceanography Courses

To be combined with core and other advanced courses to specifications of the student and thesis committee.

Faculty

Graduate Faculty


Fei Chai, Ph.D. (Duke University, 1995), Professor and Director. Area: Ecosystem Modeling; Tropical Oceanography. (Oceanography)

Emmanuel Boss, Ph.D. (Washington, 1996), Professor. Area: Particle Dynamics, Optical Oceanography. (Oceanography)

Brian Dzwonkowski, Ph.D. (University of Delaware, 2009), Research Assistant Professor. Area: Physical Oceanography, Coastal Oceanography

William Ellis, Ph.D. (Univ. of Rhode Island, 1992), Associate Director and Associate Professor. Area: Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry. (Oceanography)

Peter A. Jumars, Ph.D. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1974), Professor. Area: Benthic Biological Oceanography, Organism-Environment Interactions at the Level of Individuals, Deposit Feeding. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Lee Karp-Boss, Ph.D. (Washington, 1998), Research Associate Professor. Area: Biological Oceanography. (Oceanography)

Joseph Kelley, Ph.D. (Lehigh, 1980), Professor. Area: Coastal Geology, Coastal Zone Management. (Oceanography, Marine Policy)

Sara Lindsay, Ph.D. (South Carolina, 1994), Associate Professor. Area: Sensory Biology and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates, Benthic Ecology. (Marine Biology, Ocean-ography)

Lawrence M. Mayer, Ph.D. (Dartmouth, 1976), Professor. Area: Marine Biogeochemistry. (Oceanography)

Mary Jane Perry, Ph.D. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography/California, San Diego, 1974), Professor. Area: Phytoplankton Physiology and Ecology, Primary Productivity, Bio-optics. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Andrew J. Pershing, Ph.D. (Cornell Univ., 2001),  Associate Professor. Area: Ecology and Environmental Biology.

Neal R. Pettigrew, Ph.D. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/M.I.T., 1981), Professor. Area: Near-shore, Estuarine and Continental Shelf Circulation. (Oceanography)

Jeffrey A. Runge, Ph.D. (Univ. of Washington, 1981), Professor. Area: Biological and Fisheries Oceanography.

Robert S. Steneck, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins, 1982), Professor. Area: Benthic Marine Ecology, Lobsters, and Plant-Herbivore Interactions. (Oceanography, Marine Policy, and Marine Biology)

Andrew Thomas, Ph.D. (British Columbia, 1988), Professor. Area: Plankton Biology, Biological/Physical Interactions, Satellite Oceanography. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

David W. Townsend, Ph.D. (Maine, 1981), Professor. Area: Biological Oceanography of Shelf Seas. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Mark Wells, Ph.D. (Maine, 1989), Professor. Area: Metal-Plankton Interactions, ocean optics, and harmful algal blooms. (Oceanography)

Huijie Xue, Ph.D. (Princeton University, 1991), Professor. Area: Numerical Modeling of Coastal and Oceanic Circulation. (Oceanography)

Gayle Zydlewski, Ph.D. (Univ. of Maine, 1996), Research Associate Professor. Area: Fish Physiology, Behavior, and Population Dynamics



Cooperating Faculty


Daniel F. Belknap, Ph.D. (Delaware, 1979), Professor. Area: Marine Geology, Sedimentology. Chair, Department of Earth Sciences. (Oceanography)

Paul Mayewski, Ph.D. (Ohio University, 1973), Professor. Area: Change in Climate and Chemistry of the Atmosphere. (Oceanography)

Michael Peterson, Ph.D. (Northwestern Univ., 1994), Professor. Area: Ultrasound, Instrumentation and Biomimetic Design. (Oceanography)

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