Academic Year:
Oceanography
Telephone: (302) 831-2841
www.ceoe.udel.edu/academics/smsp/oceanography/index.shtml
Faculty Listing: www.ceoe.udel.edu/academics/smsp/oceanography/faculty.aspx
Program Overview
Oceanography Program faculty and students conduct research on physical, geological, biological, and chemical problems in estuarine, coastal, and marine environments. Historically, the program's focus has been estuarine, coastal, and continental shelf studies in the Mid-Atlantic region. Our research studies have made the nearby Delaware, Chesapeake, and Delmarva Coastal Bays some of the most extensively studied estuaries in the world. In addition, faculty and students have had increasing interests in issues related to global environmental change in a number of other regions of the world.
Estuarine waters, salt marshes, and sediments provide ideal sites for work on the cycling of particulate material, trace metals, nutrients, and organic matter. An integrated picture of contrasting estuarine behavior is emerging from studies of circulation, chemistry, sedimentary geology, and planktonic biology in these contrasting environments. Faculty and students investigate topics at scales as large as paleohistorical circulation patterns, and as small as chemical cycles in algal mats. Multidisciplinary studies of the hydrology and ecology of intertidal groundwater seepage and the controls of harmful and noxious algal blooms are also explored. Together with the Center for Remote Sensing, faculty and students study the impact of land-use changes on wetlands and estuarine waters and the effects of oceanic circulation on climate. The Oceanography Program fosters an environment where a diverse faculty and student body work together to understand marine and environmental processes in the interest of solving environmental and societal problems.
Requirements For Admission
Prospective students must submit Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores. Successful applicants typically have combined verbal and quantitative GRE scores above 1200 and grade-point averages above 3.0 (4.0 = A).
Applicants should also submit a letter of intent, stating specific interests and objectives for seeking graduate study. Early application for admission is advised. Please review the other requirements listed in the Graduate Admissions section.
Financial Aid
Please refer to the Graduate Fellowships and Assistantships section for more information.
Requirements For The Degrees
All students in the master's program are required to complete 30 graduate credits. A course outside of the Oceanography program and the student's area of concentration is also required. All students must write a thesis. Students may bypass the master's degree and work directly toward the PhD upon petition. Requirements for the PhD degree are similar to those for the master's degree, but are more intensive. Written and oral qualifying examinations are required before students are admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.
MS in Marine Studies with a concentration in Oceanography
Required courses:
Any two of the following core courses:
| MAST 602 |
Physical Oceanography or equivalent |
|
| MAST 646 |
Chemical Oceanography or equivalent |
|
| MAST 637 |
Geological Oceanography or equivalent |
|
| MAST 627 |
Marine Biology or equivalent |
|
MAST 853 Oceanography Seminar or equivalent must be taken at least one semester during each year of residence.
At least three (3) credits of 800-level courses other than courses used to meet seminar and core required courses must be completed.
One three (3) credit course in Marine Policy or one three (3) credit course outside of the student's declared sub-discipline of interest (not including courses taken to meet the program core course requirement) as approved by the advisor and the program director must be completed.
Thesis or Research: 6 credits
Additional courses may be required by the student's advisory committee.
PhD in Oceanography or PhD in Marine Studies with a concentration in Oceanography
Required courses:
| MAST 602 |
Physical Oceanography or equivalent |
|
| MAST 646 |
Chemical Oceanography or equivalent |
|
| MAST 637 |
Geological Oceanography or equivalent |
|
| MAST 627 |
Marine Biology or equivalent |
|
MAST 853 Oceanography Seminar or equivalent must be taken at least one semester during each year of residence.
At least six (6) credits of 800-level courses other than courses used to meet seminar and core required courses must be taken.
One three (3) credit course in Marine Policy or one three (3) credit course outside of the student's declared sub-discipline of interest (not including courses taken to meet the program core course requirement) as approved by the advisor and the program director must be completed.
Dissertation or Research: 9 credits
Additional courses may be required by the student's advisory committee.
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students and others who use the Catalog should note that the policies, rules, regulations,
requirements for graduation, course offerings, and other materials reproduced in the Catalog change
from time-to-time and that these changes may alter the information contained in this Catalog.
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