Programs and Research Areas

Marine and Atmospheric Science is an interdisciplinary program dealing with the study of the world’s oceans and atmosphere: their physical and biological constituents, the influence of oceanic resources on human society and the conservation and future development of those resources.

The program offers the following areas of study:

Chemical Oceanography

Chemical properties and processes of seawater, the sources and relationships between various dissolved compounds, mineral extraction, and marine pollution including nuclear waste disposal. New areas of research include marine pharmacology and natural product chemistry and this involves the search for useful drugs and organic compounds in marine organisms.

Geological Oceanography

The shape of the ocean floor, rocks, sediments, fossils and minerals, coastal erosion, oil and gas deposits, seismic activity and plate tectonics.

Marine Affairs and Policy

Marine policy, political ecology, marine resource economics, management of marine resources, environmental impact analysis, marine cultural resources, marine anthropology, ocean and coastal law and policy.

Marine Biology

Functional morphology and development, evolution, physiology, biochemistry and genetics of marine plants and animals.

Meteorology

Weather, climate, atmospheric circulation, remote sensing of the atmosphere and air-sea interaction.

Physical Oceanography

Physical properties of seawater, light and sound in the ocean, tides and waves, how water and energy are circulated by currents, the interaction of the ocean and the atmosphere, and the ocean's effects on weather and climate.