Ocean Sciences
A312 Earth and Marine Sciences Building
(831) 459-4730
https://oceansci.ucsc.edu/
Program Description
The Ocean Sciences Department includes faculty, students, and staff involved in oceanography and other marine sciences and offers undergraduate and graduate courses in these disciplines. Through faculty sponsors, students have access to a wide variety of research facilities and equipment, including on-campus analytical chemistry, geology, and molecular biology laboratories for marine research; computing and imaging facilities; an onshore marine laboratory two miles from campus (Long Marine Laboratory), with aquariums and holding tanks that are supplied with running sea water; and a unique field station on Año Nuevo Island Reserve (19 miles north of Santa Cruz), especially suited for studies on pinnipeds and marine birds. The department supports collaborative studies utilizing the innovative technologies of the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), the Naval Postgraduate School, Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, California State University (CSU) Moss Landing Laboratory, and other facilities. Students may also work at other University of California facilities, including the Bodega Marine Laboratories and Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
In addition to research and instructional activities along the California coast, interests of the core faculty and their students include biological, chemical, and physical oceanography; sediment, marine, organic, and trace metal biogeochemistry; marine plankton, phytoplankton ecology, paleoceanography, aquatic microbial ecology, ecological modeling, and remote sensing (satellite oceanography); numeric modeling of coastal and basin-scale dynamics; and midwater ecology, climatology, among others.
Ocean Sciences Department affiliated faculty in other departments represent a deep resource of research interests and methodologies including those pertaining to coral reef and kelp forest ecology, plate tectonics and continental margins, marine mammal behavior and physiology, and natural products from marine organisms. Student research projects have included participation in major scientific expeditions to various marine environments ranging from Polar Regions to the tropics.Undergraduate Programs
While offering a range of undergraduate courses, the Ocean Sciences Department presently only confers graduate degrees (Master of Science—M.S. or Doctor of Philosophy—Ph.D.) However, the undergraduate major in environmental science includes required and elective courses in ocean sciences. In addition, the undergraduate major in marine biology, sponsored by the Biological Sciences departments, includes required and elective courses in ocean sciences, and includes an ocean sciences concentration in Earth sciences for undergraduates. Students interested in ocean sciences should major in a discipline such as biology, marine biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, physics, or mathematics and take ocean sciences-related electives. Students with a bachelor's degree in one of these disciplines or equivalent coursework may apply directly for admission to the graduate program through the Division of Graduate Studies.
Graduate Programs
The graduate programs in ocean sciences are designed to prepare students for careers in research, teaching, and other environmentally related endeavors. The fundamental requirement for admission to the program is substantial evidence of superior scholarship and aptitude for original research. Preparation for admission to the graduate program in Ocean Sciences should comprise an undergraduate degree in the discipline of one of the program specialty areas (e.g., biology or marine biology, geology or earth sciences, chemistry, or physical science) or an equivalent background. If a student does not have a degree in one of these areas, the student must demonstrate to their sponsor that they have taken the classes necessary to do their research.
The prerequisites for entering either the Master's or the Ph.D. program are a minimum of two quarters or two semesters in each of the following: a calculus series; chemistry, biology, and physics. In addition, one course in each of the following is required: earth sciences or geological principles; and statistics or biostatistics.
Ocean Sciences Ph.D. Degree Program
The program leading to a doctorate in ocean sciences is designed around a core training in oceanography for all students, supplemented and focused by advanced training in oceanography and in the traditional disciplines—biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, and physics—as chosen by the student and his or her advisers. The core training is provided through courses in ocean sciences; a subset of which is taken by all students in the first two years and reinforced by the student's seminars throughout the program. Preparation also includes upper-division/graduate courses in ocean sciences and in the specialty discipline, graduate seminars, independent study research credits, participation in a departmental student seminar series, and a minimum requirement of two quarters as a teaching assistant. There is no formal language requirement.
A scheduling meeting in the first quarter of enrollment is used to map out the course program in the first year. The course program is determined by a faculty advisory committee in consultation with the student and courses are drawn from Ocean Sciences and other science departments (e.g., Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Physics). A departmental oral examination covering material from the core courses is usually taken at the beginning of a student's second year in the program and must be completed successfully within two years of entering the program. The purpose of this examination is to ensure that the doctoral student candidate has acquired sufficient fundamental knowledge of oceanography to proceed toward the doctoral degree.
A qualifying examination requiring a written research proposal to be defended orally in front of the student's Qualifying Examination Committee is normally taken during the third or fourth year of the program. A dissertation, demonstrating original thought and research, must be written, presented in an open seminar, and defended to the student's Dissertation Reading Committee. Students are strongly encouraged to prepare their dissertation in a form suitable for publication.
Sample Pathways
The pathways within the ocean sciences Ph.D. program are differentiated from related degrees in the traditional disciplines by their focus on global-scale problems and interactions, a focus on the ocean, and their inherently interdisciplinary approach. Interdisciplinary projects across and between pathways are encouraged, as are interactions with faculty in related departments.
Biological Oceanography
This area of study involves the interactions of organisms with their chemical and physical environments. It includes research on the physiology and ecology of organisms, but differs from marine biology in its focus on the oceanographic setting of the organism in relationship to, for example, biogeochemical cycling and the effects of ocean currents on distributions of organisms. The focus is mainly on small oceanic life-forms (plankton and bacteria, molecular ecology) and their roles in the biogeochemical cycles of marine systems.
Chemical Oceanography
Chemical interactions of trace metals and radionuclides in the sea are the focus of this area of study. Research includes development of analytical techniques, measurement of trace species in seawater, and investigation of the effects and interactions of trace elements on biological processes using analytical and isotopic approaches.
Geological Oceanography
Paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, and sediment geochemistry are the focus in this pathway. Research areas include the history of global geochemical cycles and composition of the ocean on various timescales, the fate and diagenesis of materials in sediments and their contribution to the paleoceanographic record, understanding ocean and climate history by the use of records of stable isotopes and trace elements, and paleoclimate modeling.
Physical Oceanography
The physics and dynamics of the ocean and atmosphere are the main aspects of this program. Research includes observational, computational, theoretical, and experimental physical oceanography, geophysical fluid dynamics, ocean acoustics, dynamical meteorology, climate, and global change.
Requirements for Ph.D. Students in the Ocean Sciences Department
To introduce students to the breadth and depth of the field of ocean sciences, students will be required to complete the following.
- The four core ocean sciences courses are expected to be completed in the first year of the program prior to taking the departmental oral examination: OCEA 200, Physical Oceanography; OCEA 220, Chemical Oceanography; OCEA 230, Biological Oceanography; and OCEA 280, Marine Geology.
- A minimum of three graduate-level or upper-division elective courses is required to provide depth in the chosen area of emphasis or supporting disciplines. These courses are selected in consultation with the student's adviser and the department's graduate advising committee. A maximum of one course may be a graduate-level seminar (OCEA 290), and at least two courses must be graduate or upper-division undergraduate lecture courses.
- OCEA 292, Ocean Sciences Seminar series. Attendance is required each quarter of enrollment.
- OCEA 296, Teaching in Ocean Sciences, taken prior to, or concurrent with, being a teaching assistant. Generally offered during the fall quarter each year.
- Teaching experience is satisfied by two quarters of teaching assistant experience in Ocean Sciences or related departments.
- A minimum of three courses in independent studies (OCEA 297, before advancing to candidacy), or thesis research (OCEA 299, after advancing to candidacy) under the direction of an adviser. Students beyond their first year will usually take 10 or 15 credits of independent study or thesis research each quarter.
- Pass a departmental oral examination. The purpose of this examination is to ensure that the doctoral student candidate has acquired sufficient fundamental knowledge of oceanography to proceed toward the doctoral degree.
- Pass the qualifying examination to advance to candidacy. This examination requires a written research proposal to be defended orally in front of the student's qualifying examination committee.
- Ph.D. dissertation. The Ph.D. dissertation, demonstrating original thought and research, must be written, presented in an open seminar, and defended to the student's dissertation reading committee. It is intended to help guide and evaluate the student's program, study, and progress.
Ocean Sciences Master's Degree Program
The Ocean Sciences Department offers a Master of Science (M.S.) degree in ocean sciences. The ocean sciences M.S. degree can be attained through Plan I thesis (coursework and thesis, minimum 44 credits) or Plan II examination (coursework and written examination, minimum 42 credits). The degree combines core courses and electives to provide depth and breadth in the ocean sciences. Graduates from the program are exceptionally prepared to take research or management positions in organizations concerned with the marine environment, to become educators, or to enter doctoral programs in ocean sciences or related fields. The thesis M. S. degree is preparation for research careers.
Whereas the doctoral program has an oceanographic orientation, the ocean sciences master's program is even broader and has traditionally attracted many students in marine biology and ecology. As with the doctoral program, students are encouraged to select a course of study and a research program that draws on the expertise of the core ocean sciences faculty and any of the affiliated faculty in other departments. Customized programs of study that combine related disciplines are supported in the master's program.
Requirements for the Ocean Sciences Master's Degree
To introduce students to the breadth and depth of the field of ocean sciences, students will be required to complete the following:
Plan I M.S. (thesis) requirements:
- OCEA 200 (Physical Oceanography) and any two of the remaining three core courses. Students are expected to complete all three of these courses in the first year of the program, and they should be taken in the order listed below. Students are also encouraged to take the fourth core course, in which case it can count as an elective. The courses must be taken in the following sequence: fall-OCEA 200 Physical Oceanography, and OCEA 280 Marine Geology; winter-OCEA 220 Chemical Oceanography; and spring-OCEA 230 Biological Oceanography.
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A minimum of two graduate-level or upper-division elective courses to provide depth in the chosen area of emphasis. They are chosen in consultation with the student’s adviser and the department’s Graduate Advising Committee. A maximum of one course may be a graduate-level seminar (OCEA 290); at least one course must be graduate or upper-division undergraduate lecture courses.
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A minimum of three courses in Independent Studies (OCEA 297) under the direction of an adviser, is required. Each quarter a student should take 15 credits of classes. Students beyond their first year will usually take 10 or 15 credits of Independent Studies each quarter.
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OCEA 296, Teaching in Ocean Sciences, to be taken prior to or concurrent with being a teaching assistant. It is generally offered during the fall quarter each year.
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Teaching experience, satisfied by one quarter as a teaching assistant for an ocean sciences or supporting department's course.
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OCEA 292, Ocean Sciences Seminar series. Attendance is required each quarter of enrollment.
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Successful completion of a master's thesis presented at an open seminar.
Plan II M.S. (examination) requirements:
Complete all four ocean sciences core courses, taken in the following order: fall-OCEA 200 Physical Oceanography, and OCEA 280 Marine Geology; winter-OCEA 220 Chemical Oceanography; and spring-OCEA 230 Biological Oceanography.
Complete one course in data analysis (5 credits), Introductory Data Analysis in Ocean and Earth Sciences, OCEA 260.
A minimum of three graduate-level or upper-division elective courses is required to provide depth in the chosen area of emphasis or supporting disciplines. These courses are selected in consultation with the student's adviser and the department’s graduate advising committee. A maximum of one course may be a graduate-level seminar (OCEA 290), and at least two courses must be graduate or upper-division undergraduate lecture courses.
OCEA 292. Ocean Sciences Seminar series. Attendance is required each quarter of enrollment.
Passing performance on the comprehensive examination.
Details regarding admission, graduate standing, financial aid, examinations, and the requirements for the master of science and doctor of philosophy degrees are available from the Division of Graduate Studies.
Revised: 07/15/18
