SMS 484 - SBS: Estuarine Oceanography

The course examines estuaries from an environmental perspective - how geomorphology, rivers, tides, and human alterations control the physical and biological properties of estuarine habitats. Fieldwork in mid-coast Maine estuaries includes visits to various habitats with human impacts, and hydrographic surveys that use various water, sediment and biota samplers, field sensors, laboratory and modeling approaches. Students will learn how planktonic and sessile organisms respond to forcings from land and the ocean. This course is part of Semester by the Sea at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine. Because it is a field-intensive course, it can be used towards the marine science field experience requirement.

General Education Requirements:

Prerequisites: SMS 100

Course Typically Offered: Fall

Credits: 4