Admission to Program
Ocean Science majors may apply to the Ocean Science B.S./Marine Sciences M.S. (non-thesis) Double Dawgs pathway as early as the fall semester of their junior year. Students who meet the eligibility requirements specified below should arrange to meet with either the Ocean Science undergraduate coordinator or Academic Advisor, and should also meet with the Marine Sciences graduate coordinator early in the semester to discuss program feasibility and to be advised on coursework requirements.
To be eligible for the Ocean Science B.S./Marine Sciences M.S. (non-thesis) Double Dawgs pathway, students must
• Have completed at least 60 credit hours before the start of their junior year
• Have a minimum GPA of 3.2 at the time they apply to the Double Dawgs pathway
• Have completed the following foundation science and mathematics courses (or their equivalent) with a B average: (CHEM 1211-1211L/CHEM 1212-1212L), (BIOL1107-1107L/BIOL 1108-1108L), (PHYS 1111-1111L/PHYS 1112-1112L) or (PHYS 1211-1211L/PHYS 1212-1212L), and MATH 2250.
Curriculum
Graduate-level courses that may be used to satisfy undergraduate and graduate program requirements.
*MARS 6100: Geological and Physical Oceanography (3cr)
*MARS 6200: Biological and Chemical Oceanography (3cr)
*MARS 6400: Introduction to Marine Policy (3cr)
*MARS 6520: Quantitative Analysis of Ocean Data (3cr)
*MARS 6810 Global Biogeochemical Cycles (3cr)
*ECOL 6000: Population and Community Ecology (3cr)
*FISH(ECOL)(MARS)(WILD) 6300-6300L: Environmental Biology of Fishes (4cr):
*ECOL 6050L: Ichthyology (4cr):
*MARS(FISH) 6380-6380L: Marine Fisheries Biology (3cr)
*ECOL(BIOL)(MARS) 6330-6330L: Tropical Marine Invertebrates (4cr)
*ECOL 6280-6280L: Coral Reef Ecology (4cr): (Meets Ecology Natural History Requirement)
*MARS(MIBO)6620: Microbial Ecology (3cr) (need MIBO 3500 as a prereq)
*MATH(MARS) 6730: Mathematics of Climate (3cr)
*MARS 7380: Quantitative Methods in Marine Science (3cr)
*MARS 8130: Seminar in Hydrobiology (1cr)
*Courses that are graduate courses used to satisfy graduate and undergraduate degree program requirements. Students are expected to satisfy all Regents, University, and Ocean Sciences Major Requirements in order to graduate.
Up to 12 hours of any of the courses listed above can be used to satisfy both undergraduate and graduate program requirements.
Additional requirements that are unique to this Double Dawgs program:
Students must enroll in the MARS 7100 Non-Thesis M.S. Research Project or Internship Experience course in either the summer semester of their fourth year or in the fall semester of the 5th year. Students are encouraged to seek out internship or research project opportunities once accepted into the graduate program in the spring semester of the fourth year. Also, MARS 6100 (or permission of the department) is required prior to taking the core graduate course MARS 8030. MARS 7380 (Quantitative Methods in Marine Science) is a required course for the M.S., but testing out is a possibility.
Admission to Graduate Program
Students will formally apply to the Marine Sciences M.S. (non-thesis) program by the end of the fall semester of year four with acceptance contingent on having successfully completed the undergraduate Ocean Science major. Prospective students are required to submit a statement of interest as part of the application process. Students will also be required to submit three letters of reference; one must be a letter of support from a prospective faculty advisor in the Department of Marine Sciences. The Marine Sciences Graduate Affairs Committee will review applications using the same acceptance criteria that are used for traditional applicants to the program.