• Arts & Sciences
• Marine Science Minor
• Curriculum

Curriculum

Requirements for the Minor

Required Credit Hours: 18

See the Undergraduate Catalog for more details.  Descriptions of the required courses are listed below.  Not every course is taught every semester.  The Undergraduate Catalog and on-line Course Schedule have more information.  

Two Required Courses (6 credits)
Students are to select one course from Group 1 and one course from Group 2.

Group 1:

• MSCI 330 - Introduction to Marine Science (3 credits)
  or cross-listed as BIOL 330, ENSP 249, GEOL 330
  This course provides an overview of physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes operating in the world ocean.  The interdisciplinary nature of marine science is emphasized, providing an integrated view of factors that control ocean history, circulation, chemistry, and biological productivity.

Group 2:

• MSCI 331 - Field Studies in Coastal Marine Environments (3 credits)
  or cross listed as BIOL 404, ENSP 440 or GEOL 407
  We encourage students to take this course during the summer following either their freshman or sophomore year.
• Other field courses of appropriate length and scope may be used to fulfill the field course requirement with permission from the Program Co-Directors.

Elective Courses (12 Credits)
Existing courses that can be used to meet this requirement are listed below. Additional courses may be used to satisfy this requirement with approval from the Marine Science Minor Advisory Committee. Select at least one course of 3 or more credits (inclusive of required recitation section) from the Physical category and one from the Biological category (MSCI 401A and MSCI 401C-E each have a required corequisite recitation section).

Courses that will count for the Physical category include:

• MSCI 401A - Fundamentals of Marine Science, Physical Oceanography (2 credits)
• MSCI 401B - Fundamentals of Marine Science, Chemical Oceanography (3 credits)
  
• MSCI 401C - Fundamentals of Marine Geology (2 credits)
• MSCI 421 - Marine Geology: Environments, Processes, and Records (3 credits)
• GEOL 324 - Paleoclimatology & Paleoceanography (4 credits)

Courses that will count for the Biological category include:

• MSCI 340 - Marine Biology (3 credits)
• MSCI  401D - Fundamentals of Marine Science, Biological Oceanography (2 credits)
• MSCI 401E - Fundamentals of Environmental Chemistry, Toxicology, and Pathobiology (2 credits)
• MSCI 401F - Fundamentals of Marine Fisheries Science (3 credits)
• BIOL 404 - Parasitology (3 credits)
• BIOL 427 - Wetland Ecosystems (4 credits)
• BIOL 457 - Marine Invertebrate Biology (4 credits)
• BIOL 460 - Marine Ecology (3 credits)
• BIOL 461 - Marine Ecology and Conservationn (3 credits)

Recitation
A co-requisite recitation section is required for each MSCI 401A and MSCI 401C-E course.

• MSCI 401R - Fundamentals of Marine Science Recitation (1 credit) 

Additional Electives 
Additional electives that can be used to fulfill the 18 credits for the minor include:

• MSCI 332 - Coastal Marine Habitats in North Wales (3 credits)
• MSCI 391 - Marine Science Mash-up (1 credit)
• MSCI 398 - Marine Science Seminar (1-3 credits)
  Topics vary from year to year. Seminars can be repeated for credit if the topic is different.
• MSCI 404 - Microbial Processes in a Changing  Coastal Environment (2 credits)
• MSCI 490 - Research in Marine Science (1-3 credits)
• BUAD 492 - Sustainability and Chesapeake Bay (3 credits)
  or cross-listed as MSCI 398 or ENSP 440
• GEOL 325 - Paleontology (3 credits)
  or cross-listed as BIOL 317 - Paleontology