Ocean Studies

Ocean Studies has two programs in ocean sciences. The first one is Coastal and Marine Environmental Science, and the second one is Marine Biology. And we are thrilled to offer programs that allow for the next generation of ocean scientists to grow and learn on our campus. Our courses are designed to provide students with foundational knowledge and skills to be workforce ready. We make use of our nearshore environments, and Penobscot Bay as our living laboratory, getting students out on the water, in the water, on the coast.

Marine Biology is designed for students who want to explore the organisms that live in and near the ocean through hands-on experiences. From the microscopic organisms that form the foundation of marine food webs through large marine animals, students will gain an understanding of the diversity of life in oceans. Students are gaining skills in problem solving and critical thinking that prepares them for careers in marine science, environmental research, aquaculture, and beyond. If you're passionate about the ocean, curious about marine ecosystems, then the Marine Biology program is for you because we can turn that passion into a future.

It is very rare to be able to have a classroom 50 feet away from a working waterfront, and maybe 100 feet away from a sandy beach where you can explore the invertebrates or the seaweeds, or the sediments that are there.

For students who care deeply about the environment, the Coastal and Marine Environmental program is a great fit. Through understanding this critical and rapidly changing system here in the Gulf of Maine, we can expand out to understand how other systems around the world are changing, and what we can do to build resilience and support healthy ecosystems and communities around the world. Our CMES students study topics such as sustainability, coastal resilience, fisheries, climate change, and coastal resource management. But our students aren't just studying environmental challenges. They are contributing to research and restoration that supports healthy ecosystems and helps local communities respond to environmental change. Our Coastal Marine Environmental Science program is unique from Marine Biology. We're studying ecosystems holistically, so really trying to understand the physics and chemistry and geology and biology of these systems and how it works together.

In the Corning School of Ocean Studies, we have a common first year for all of our students, so they get exposure to both of the programs that we offer: Marine Biology or Coastal and Marine Environmental Science. I think one of the unique curricular options that students have here is to enroll in our dual program to have an Ocean Studies degree, either Marine Biology or CMES, and pair it with a limited license Small Vessel Operations degree. There's nowhere else in the United States that offers that combination of science and Small Vessel Operations.

Having a dual degree, having a Marine Biology or CMES degree and a Small Vessel Operations Coast Guard license allows a student not just to do the science, but to drive the boat to do the science.

A hallmark of the Ocean Studies programs are that every single student develops, executes, and communicates an independent research project. That's really unique at the undergraduate level in which a student really is the independent scientist. It gives students the opportunity to transition from being a student of science to being a practitioner of science. And so when they graduate, they can authentically say that they do science. They haven't learned science, but they're doing science.