Teaching
Members of the lab teach a range of undergraduate, honors and graduate courses. We try to include a strong quantitative element in all these courses.
Chemical and Biological Oceanography (MARS 4200/6200)
This undergraduate course is a companion to MARS 4100 and is co-taught with . The biological component of the course concentrates on the processes that give rise to spatial and temporal patterns in marine biological productivity. There is a strong link between the chemical and biological components of this course. The course is taught during the fall semester and a syllabus for the biological part of the course is available as a pdf.
Living in Air, Living in Water (HONS 1990H)
How can a whale dive to depths of 2000 m in the ocean and survive? How does a water skimmer walk on water? What makes a fast swimmer, a fast runner or a fast flyer? Does your size affect how you see the world? These are some of the question that are tackled in this course, which explores the adaptations that organisms make in oder to survive in air and/or in water. In the discussions and readings we use our understanding of biology, chemistry and physics to understand how life has adapted to these two environments. The Honors Seminar is offered in the Spring Semester and draws from books by Steven Vogel and Mark Denny as well as current literature.
Quantitative Methods in Marine Science (MARS 7380)
This graduate level course is designed to bring all incomming graduate students in marine sciences up to a certain standard in their understanding of and ability to handle quantitative techniques in marine science. We start by covering the use of estimation and dimensional analysis to rapidly get an understanding of problem. We continue with a re-introduction to basic calculus and its use in integrating over depth profiles and how one can extrapolate regional data to make conclusions about larger spatial domains. This course is offered in the Fall Semester and a syllabus for the course is available as a pdf.
Ecological Modeling (MARS 8510)
This course is an introduction into the methods used in modeling marine systems. During the course, we introduce some of the differential equations used to describe biolgical, physical and chemical processes in the marine environment. We examine how these equations are derived, study analytical and numerical techniques for solving them and apply them to problems in marine science. This course is offered in the Spring Semester and a syllabus for the course is available as a pdf.
