Marine Science Programs

•  General School and Program Information

•  Marine Science Academic Curriculum

•  Facilities

General School and Program Information

Coastal Carolina University is a rapidly growing public, predominantly undergraduate institution with approximately 7,000 students and over 250 faculty. It is located 10 miles west of Myrtle Beach , South Carolina . The Marine Science Department's primary focus is on undergraduate education and research, but it is also a major contributor to CCU's new Coastal Marine and Wetland Studies Graduate Program. With approximately 650 undergraduate majors and 15 faculty members, the department is the largest undergraduate marine science program on the East Coast.

Marine Science Academic Curriculum

The Department of Marine Science is committed to providing an outstanding educational experience for its students. The department awards, on average, 60-70 B.S. degrees in marine science each year. The goal of the department's curriculum is to ensure that all marine science graduates can use the scientific method to describe, analyze, and solve scientific problems involving marine science and related fields. Prospective graduates are encouraged to apply for jobs or admission to graduate schools. To this end, the faculty provide individualized advisement and career counseling.

The marine science degree is presented within the context of a liberal arts education. A general liberal arts core accounts for approximately 33 of the 120 credits required for graduation. An additional 47 credits go toward foundation courses in the sciences and mathematics, including introductory courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and marine science, as well as calculus, statistics, and computer science. Finally, 36 credits of upper level science courses complete the degree, including required core courses in marine biology, marine geology, marine chemistry, and physical oceanography. Up to 12 of the 36 credits can be from related science or math courses outside of marine science. Students can structure and focus their degree by pursuing one of five areas of emphasis (marine biology, coastal geology, marine chemistry, ocean/atmosphere interactions, or marine analytical technology) or by pursuing a minor in one of eight related minors (biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, environmental science, or coastal geology). Students may also pursue a double major, but this requires at least an additional semester of classes.

Students are encourage, but not required, to take an independent research or external internship course in their junior or senior year. All faculty are actively involved in research projects with undergraduate students. Projects range from diatoms to dolphins, beach erosion to benthic ecology, water quality analysis to weather and hurricanes, sharks to shoreline change, marsh ecology to mercury contamination. The list goes on and on. Field courses are also available for students, including a Coral Reef Ecology course in Jamaica , and a Shark Biology course in Bimini , Bahamas . Many students also take advantage of semester exchange programs with international sister schools, most notably Deakin University in Australia .

Click on the links below for additional details about the Marine Science Curricula:

•  Marine Science Student Handbook (PDF) – including complete description of degree requirements and suggested schedules by year

•  Marine Science Course Offerings – including complete list of courses and selected course web pages

Facilities

The Marine Science Department is located in the R. Cathcart Science Center, which houses several lecture rooms and teaching/research laboratories for introductory and advanced courses. Lecture and laboratory facilities are also available in the Atlantic Center , which houses the coastal geology program and the Center for Marine and Wetland Studies . The department has a full compliment of marine sampling and analysis equipment. Specialized facilities include:

•  Research Vessels: CCU vessels include several 15 - 20-ft skiffs, as well as a 42-ft diesel-powered teaching/research vessel, the Coastal II.

•  Waites Island : T he Coastal Educational Foundation owns approximately 1000 acres of an undeveloped barrier island, thanks to a generous donation by the Tilghman/Boyce families,. The island is used for geological, biological and estuarine research by marine science and biology students. A field station, with laboratories and classrooms, is planned for the near future.

•  Environmental Quality Lab : EPA-certified lab for pollution measurements in water, sediment, and tissues. The lab is under the direction of the Waccamaw Watershed Academy , which is a division of the Center for Marine and Wetland Studies.

•  Computer and Remote Sensing Lab: Includes Unix, Macintosh, and Linux computers for student use. Projects currently underway in the lab include hurricane tracking and analysis of the Gulf Stream . A separate student PC lab is also located in the Science Center .

•  Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Lab: Supports student courses in GIS as well as faculty and student research.

The Marine Science Department maintains strong and productive partnerships with the following organizations:

•  South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

•  South Carolina Marine Educators Association

•  South Carolina Seagrant Consortium

•  South Carolina Spacegrant Consortium

•  SouthEast Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence