The biological oceanography/marine ecology group includes Ann Bucklin, Hans Dam, James Kremer, Senjie Lin, George McManus, Pieter Visscher, Evan Ward, and Robert Whitlatch, as well as in-residence professors Peter Auster, Pat Kremer, Paul Renaud, and Sandra Shumway. Charles Yarish and Eric Schultz are jointly appointed with Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Joe Crivello is jointly appoinnted with Physiology and Neurobiology.

Our group contains scientists with a broad range of interests, including benthic population and community ecology, marine invasive species ecology, trophic relationships in the plankton, nutrient dynamics of coastal embayments and estuaries, effects of harmful algal blooms in coastal waters, biogeochemistry of microbial mats, gelatinous zooplankton ecology, ecology and biomechanics of shellfish feeding, algal physiology, and the role of marine protected areas in fish ecology.

Marine Sciences biology faculty use both field observations and laboratory experiments to obtain insights into coastal zone processes. Field programs range from coastal Brazil to New Zealand and from Long Island Sound to the Irish Sea. Laboratory techniques include applications of image analysis, high performance liquid chromatography, microelectrodes, video endoscopy, molecular biology, and fluorescence microscopy, along with traditional oceanographic methods for measuring materials and fluxes in the coastal environment.

Our program involves individually-tailored curricula that combine traditional core courses in the oceanographic subdisciplines with interdisciplinary advanced offerings taught by the physicists and chemists in the department, and intensive seminar courses in various biological areas of specialty.

In addition to regularly scheduled seminars and special topic courses, we offer the following biological oceanography courses:

MARN 242. Environmental Physiology of Marine Animals
Introduction to the study of marine environmental physiology; behavioral and physiological adaptations of marine animals to different environments (intertidal, estuarine, coastal, oceanic); compensatory responses to changing ambient conditions; and basic animal energetics. Laboratory exercises focus on food consumption, energy transformations, and principles of physiological measurement.

MARN 236. Marine Microbiology
A general survey of the taxonomy, physiology and ecology of marine microorganisms.

MARN 294. Marine Biology
The study of the kinds and distributions of marine organisms. Particular attention is paid to biotic features of the oceans, organism-habitat and relationships and general ecological concepts influencing marine populations and communities.

MARN 331. Marine Phytoplankton Ecology and Physiology
The physiology of marine phytoplankton, environmental factors affecting their growth and photosynthesis in the ocean, the oceanographic processes responsible for the temporal and spatial distributions of phytoplankton biomass and production, and current topics in phytoplankton research.

MARN 332. Marine Zooplankton
The role of bioenergetics, life history, population and community dynamics and their role in biogeochemical cycles of protozoan and metazoan marine zooplankton.

MARN 336. Biogenic Fluxes in the Oceans
Processes regulating the export of organic matter from the surface of the ocean to the sea bed. New and export production; role of the biotic and abiotic processes in downward transport of particulate and dissolved organic matter; current topics of research on the biological pump.

MARN 365. Molecular Approach to Biological Oceanography
Principles and technology in nucleic acid purification and manipulation, DNA fingerprinting, gene cloning and sequencing, phylogenetic analysis, and detection of gene expression (mRNA and protein). Application examples in marine ecological studies.

MARN 380. Biological Oceanography
An advanced course in biological processes in oceanic and coastal waters. Emphasis is on empirical and theoretical concepts of marine ecosystem dynamics, primary and secondary production and detrital cycling.

MARN 382. Coastal Pollution and Bioremediation
Overview of processes and compounds leading to pollution in the nearshore marine environment. The impact of pollution on the marine food-web and its response is emphasized. Alleviation of pollution through metabolism of organisms, including bacteria, sea grasses and salt marshes.

MARN 386. Marine Bioorganic Chemistry
Overview of the molecular basis of metabolic and bioenergetic pathways and processes with emphasis on life in the marine environment. Synthesis of marine natural products. Laboratory demonstrations of selected molecular and physiological techniques used in oceanography.

MARN 441. Ecology of Marine Invertebrates
Functional responses of organisms to abiotic factors in the marine environment (light, temperature, salinity, oxygen tension, intertidal exposure).

MARN 443. Marine Systems Ecology
Effects of biotic and abiotic parameters on the structure and function of marine ecosystems. Techniques for the analysis of energetics, nutrient cycles, and trophic characteristics in both theoretical and applied problems.

---