200 Introduction to Oceanography

“America is a nation intrinsically connected to and immensely reliant on the ocean. All citizens—whether they reside in the country’s farmlands or mountains, in its cities or along the coast—affect and are affected by the sea.” This quote is from a government-commissioned report entitled “Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century”.

We have 4 main goals for students taking this course:

1. gain an understanding of the importance of ocean processes for the functioning of our planet,
2. acquire the basic skills required to understand and quantify how the ocean works, 
3. experience the excitement of ocean studies through exposure to the latest oceanographic findings, and
4. understand the interdisciplinary nature of ocean processes through examination of specific case studies.