Future Marine biologists club

F

flying_dutchman

New member
For all of you who want to become a marine biologist, no matter if your in high school or in college. Please post which college you plan on going to/ going to. And what field in marine biology, and why. Current marine biologist also welcome.

Keep on reefing!:D
 
I will probably attend FSU in two years. I would like to become a marine biologist who studies bay and reef life, learning how to better conserve it for future generations.

Anyone else?
 
Hey, count me in! :D

My dream college for marine bio is James Cook University of Queensland Australia. (They take day trips to the great barrier reef.)
 
James Cook University of Queensland Australia sounds awsome If I was smarter and younger that is by far where I would go
 
I'm more interested in deep sea marine biology, not sure which college yet.
But considering the following:
Australia:
University of Tasmania - Centre for Marine Science
James Cook University, Total a little bit over $100,000 for both Bachelors and Masters.

UK, a lot cheaper and since I'm dutch and Holland is a part of the EU I'm a 'home' fee student.
Newcastle University - School of Marine Science and Technology, with a tuition fee of £3,290 per year for undergrads and £4,235 for post grads, It's much cheaper than James cook, But no reefs :(
University of Aberdeen - School of Biological Sciences
University of Cambridge - Dept. of Zoology
University of Southampton - School of Ocean and Earth Science
University of Wales Bangor - School of Ocean Sciences
 
i graduated with a bachelors from texas a&m university in galveston. being a gulf coast oriented school, most of the programs were geared toward gulf coast species and marsh replenishing.

i graduated in may of 2008, but haven't gotten a marine biology related job. i looked around for the bit, but graduating during a global financial meltdown didn't help things along. not to mention i wasn't really willing to relocate, narrowing down job possibilities to the houston area. but, i started working for a computer company and make a nice living doing that...so i kind of put marine biology on the back burners.
 
Hello Fellow Reefers! I want to study at the University Of Puerto Rico, not sure which campus yet. But, I am keeping my dream alive.I would focus on Reef Life, conservation and restoration. Not currently in college.
 
Last edited:
I am transfering to Stonybrook Southampton university next semester, into the marine invertebrate program. I figured i might as well finish up my bachelors in something i like before plunging into grad school.
 
Here's a good program (one semester) for you all to consider as part of your undergrad education. The original [URL="http://www.seamester.net/"]Seamester[/url]. It originated as a program of Southampton College (my alma mater), devolped and run by Professor Doug Hardy for much of it's 30 plus year history before he retired. When Southampton's parent university shut down Southampton, Seamester became an orphan program. Now it's back with the collaboration of the Ocean Classroom Foundation and the University of Maine. It's a semester spent at Sea, traveling the Caribean and East Coast of the US aboard the Schooner Spirit of Massachusetts. Nothing like studying reefs while on a reef, or coastal salt marsh while in a salt marsh. Never mind studying pelagics while offshore :D It was probably the most life changing course I've ever experienced, something most Seamester Alumini will say. You won't only learn a lot of marine science, maritime history, navigation and such, but you'll learn a lot about yourself as well. There is something to be said of the experiences of working the deck of sailing vessel in a storm one minute, and watching dolphins under the bowsprit the next :D
 
Aerowen said:
I am transferring to Stonybrook Southampton university next semester, into the marine invertebrate program. I figured i might as well finish up my bachelors in something i like before plunging into grad school.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

The Marine Station there was my home away from home during my undergrad years ;)
 
For people interested in working for public aquariums, you might check out Bowling Green University in Ohio. They have a marine lab that has an aquarium focus....turns out a lot of fine aquarists. I was at a conference where people were discussing what school they had attended and BGSU was at the top of the list by far....

Jay
 
If I don't end up taking the Astronomy road, I'd like to study Marine Biology at UC Berkeley. I'd love to work at the Monteray Bay Aquarium or study the effects of global warming on the marine life of the South Pacific.
 
I’m a senior biology major at the University of Delaware. Not entirely sure with the present economy what career path I’ll be taking. I'd love to become involved in the aquarium industry since it's extremely interesting to me
 
A few pieces of advice for those of you planning to pursue marine biology careers-

1. Don't worry too much about which school you do your undergrad at. At the undergrad level there's just not a whole lot of difference between programs. Save your money and go to a public, in-state school. Worry about getting into a prestigious school later when you're looking for grad schools. Pretty much every undergrad program, in the US at least, will require you to take several field courses at a marine station. Which station you take your classes at is not dependent on which school you pick. I had friends from my school who did their field courses in 8 different states and 10 different countries.

2. Plan on going to grad school. There are a LOT of people out there with marine biology degrees. Having one won't give you any sort of edge in the job market. Aside from a fisheries observer there are very few jobs open to marine biologists with only a bachelors degree. Most jobs in the field will require at least a masters degree. If the idea of going to school for 6-12 years doesn't sound like something you're willing to do, consider a different career. Also, with that goal in mind, don't let your GPA slip, even if you're just a freshman or sophomore in college. Most grad schools have a minimum GPA for acceptance and if you dig yourself an early hole it's very difficult to recover.

3. Get involved with research and make connections as an undergrad. Getting research experience and good recommendations will be a much more important factor in getting into grad school than which school you picked for undergrad. Meet the professors at your school who are working on marine topics. Many will need help in the lab. You probably won't get paid, but you may get class credit, possibly an opportunity to travel, and you'll definitely get useful experience. This is also a great way to figure out what you do and don't like. I've even known people who switched majors after a semester as a lab assistant because they realized being a marine biologist wasn't what they expected. It's much better to make that realization before you graduate.
 
green been, great advice, and congrats on making it past 10,000 posts.

i am a sophomore, im attending a marine program associated with FAU and HBOI called MOA( the Marine Oceanographic Academy ). after this, if i can get a scholorship whether through grades, or maybe ocean bowl, i hope to go to the University of Miami. if not i may go to mcguille for my core classes, and return to UM for my graduates. (i have canadian citizenship so mcguille will be cheep)

their you have it.

also, i heard recently in a cemenar at a local highschool that if you plan on getting ur core classes at a public school it may count against you when you try to go to a more prestigious school if you cant keep at least a 4.0.

and they also hinted that you shouldn't even bother with colledge if your not going to get more than your AA or bachelors, because everyone gets that all it will do is put you in debt, the only way you can excell in your discipline is through the degrees above that.

...ima try for a ph.d

oh and i would like to study estuarine ecology. particularly if the excelerated growth of the seagrasses commonly found in them durring ocea acidification will allow for the CCd to be low enough to be conducive for coral growth in large field of it, say at shark bay australia. i may also decide to work on coral disease spread, theirs an interesting litle clash of theories about whether algae ocntributes to the spread of them or not, and to what degree. that would make a nice doctoral thesis.
 
greenbean36191 thanks for the advice.
Wouldn't it be easier to get into grad school if you already did undergrad at the same university? All the colleges I listed offer BS, MS, and PhD and most have a research center, and the UK is a lot more affordable.

At which colleges/universities did you study?
 
I am currently taking classes towards a regular science degree at my community college. Once I get my Assosciates, I want to transfer to one of these schools, depending on where I get accepted, and the money of course :-) University of Southern California, UC Santa Barbara, or possibly another school in So Cal.

What I want to do is eventually work on conservation of reef corals and fish, by learning how to propagate and raise them in an aquarium setting. I also have an idea of owning and operating a fish store, so I am hoping to get a minor in business wherever I go.

Anyone know of colleges in California that have programs geared toward captive fish and their care?
 
List of schools in California that offer marine biology courses:
California Lutheran University [Biology Major focusing on research in marine biology] BA, BS
California State University, Long Beach BS, MS
California State University (Moss Landing Marine Laboratories) [Marine Science] MS
California State University Monterey Bay [Biology] BS, MS
Humboldt State University [Fisheries Biology] BS, MS
San Diego State University - Ecology Program Area [Biology with emphasis in ecology and marine biology] BS
San Francisco State University [Biology: Marine Biology concentration] BS, MS
San Jose State University [Biology: Marine Biology concentration] BS
Sonoma State University BS, [MS Biology with concentrations such as Marine Ecology]
University of California Berkeley [Marine Science] BS, MA, PhD
University of California Los Angeles BS? MS?/PhD
University of California Santa Barbara [Aquatic Biology, Biology, Zoology, etc.] BA/BS, MA, PhD
University of California Santa Cruz BS
University of California San Diego/Scripps Institution of Oceanography, MS, PhD Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, PhD
University of San Diego [Marine Science], [Marine Science] MS
University of Southern California "Progressive" Masters in Marine and Environmental Biology, MS [Marine and Environmental Biology], PhD [Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography]

http://marinebio.org/MarineBio/Careers/US-schools.asp
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
School Project for Reef Biological Filtration
2 3
Replies
46
Views
2K
Reef-Explorer
R
S
Novice Aquarist - Sump & Equipment Questions
Replies
9
Views
369
wvned
wvned
M
Choosing Between Innovative Marine and Waterbox for a 200-Gallon Mixed Reef – Your Input Wanted!
Replies
6
Views
4K
griss
griss
padi200
Which salt and 4 more things!
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
Billfishbrsin
B
R
The Role of Magnesium Salts in Coral Reef Health and Restoration
Replies
0
Views
897
runfucamg
R
Back
Top