William and Mary

Marine Science Minor



Arts & Sciences » Marine Science Minor » Curriculum

Curriculum

Requirements for the Minor

Required Credit Hours: 18

 

  1. Two required courses (6 credits)
    1. Introduction to Marine Science (3 credits) MSCI 330, BIOL 330, GEOL 330
    2. Field Studies in Coastal Marine Environments (3 credits) MSCI 331, GEOL 407, ENSP 404, BIOL 404
  2. Three Marine Science Fundamentals courses (6 credits)                                                                                               Prior to registration, students must request permission to enroll in graduate courses for undergraduate level credit from the Co-Directors of the Minor in Marine Science program, in order to have the course credited to their bachelor's degree.  Students enrolling in 500 level courses must have a 2.5 GPA overall and 3.0 GPA in previous Marine Science coursework.  
    1. Fundamentals of Marine Science, Physical Oceanography (2 credits) MSCI 501A
    2. Fundamentals of Marine Science, Chemical Oceanography (2 credits) MSCI 501B
    3. Fundamentals of Marine Geology (2 credits) MSCI 501C OR Marine Geology GEOL 306 (3 credits)
    4. Fundamentals of Marine Science, Biological Oceanography (2 credits) MSCI 501D
    5. Fundamentals of Environmental Chemistry, Toxicology, and Pathobiology (2 credits) MSCI 501E
    6. Fundamentals of Marine Fisheries Science (2 credits) MSCI 501F
  3. Elective courses (6 credits)                                                                                                                                                               Existing courses that can be used to meet this requirement are listed below. Additional courses may be added to the list with approval from the Marine Science Minor Advisory Committee.
    1. Invertebrate Biology (4 credits) BIOL 316
    2. Fundamentals of Ecotoxicology (3 credits) BIOL 404/MSCI 560
    3. Wetlands Ecology (4 credits) BIOL 427/BIOL627/MSCI 579
    4. Marine Geology (3 credits) GEOL 306 (only one of Marine Geology or Fundamentals of Marine Geology can be used for the marine science minor; the one course selected can count towards the fundamentals of marine science or the elective requirement, but not both)
    5. Paleontology (3 credits) GEOL 423/BIOL 317
    6. Estuaries (3 credits) ENSP 440
    7. Marine Science Seminars (1 credit each, currently taught as GEOL 407 or ENSP 249 courses) – Topics vary from year to year. Seminars can be repeated for credit if the topic is different.
    8. Sustainable Commerce in the Sea (3 credits) BUAD 492/ENSP 440
    9. Coastal Marine Habitats in North Wales (2 credits) MSCI 332
    10. Marine Science Mash Up (1 credit) MSCI 391
    11. Oceans and Climate (2 credits) MSCI 460
    12. Research in Marine Science (1 to 3 credits) MSCI 490
    13. Advanced Marine Invertebrate Zoology, a Field Course (3 credits) MSCI 498
    14. Coastal Botany (2 or 3 credits) MSCI 527
    15. Water Pollution (2 credits) MSCI 562
    16. Environmental Chemistry (3 credits) MSCI 563
    17. Principles of Pathobiology (3 credits) MSCI 565
    18. Aquatic Microbial Ecology (3 credits) MSCI 575
    19. Additional MSCI 501 Fundamentals of Marine Science courses not used to satisfy the Fundamentals requirement for the Marine Science Minor
    20. Additional graduate level courses may be applicable; these can be viewed on the VIMS Course Catalog