Marine Biology

[dkmumme]

I'm Looking into becoming a marine biologist, what is my first step and what schools should I consider. In what ways can I find out if marine biology is for me or not? Thanks.

 

[DavidPT40]

They're actually some marine biologists that frequent this board. But heres how to do it in a nutshell:

Get a bachelors degree in biology
Get a masters degree in marine biology
Get a PhD.

To see if you like the field, do some volunteering and interning during the summers.

You will need good grades (at least a 3.0gpa) and must be proficient in math and chemistry.

 

[daniel f aleman]

David has it right. Here's a major internet resource: http://oceanlink.island.net/career/careerlinks.html

 

[covediver]

I'm Looking into becoming a marine biologist, what is my first step and what schools should I consider. In what ways can I find out if marine biology is for me or not? Thanks.

I disagree that a PH.d. is needed to work in marine biology or even a masters degree for that matter as I know too many people who work in the field who have a bachelors degree. Admittedly, a MS or Ph.D. is useful for apex positions, and in many cases the latter is required to be a prinicipal investigator (research scientist whose name is on the grant) but it is not required for many jobs.

Marine biology is part of a job description, but not the only thing they do in their job. For example, people who work as environmental analysts/coastal zone managers. Many marine biology positions are not "wet" positions.

So how do you know it is for you? If you are just entering college, take oceanography and biology to fulfill your science requirements. If the subject matter does not excite you to the point of knocking your socks off you probably won't like the advanced stuff. If you want to be a "wet" biologist, take a scuba class. If you don't like it, it is probably not for you.

You get experience by doing internships, volunteering, and proving yourself. You don't give a location, so anything beyond that generality would not be useful.

Schools--covered extensively by other threads. Alabama has a top flight undergraduate program through cooperating institutions in the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and other states have similar arrangements.

 

[drbill]

Both sets of advice are relevant. If you are interested in becoming a top research scientist and P.I., you will need a PhD. If you are interested in working in the field (or lab) at a "lower" level, or with many conservation and environmental organizations, you may not need it.

Your undergrad work should be at a school that has a good graduate program, or a focused undergrad program. Get involved with the professors in the areas you are interested in. Volunteer or do paid work in their labs. Get involved in research diving at the institution if they offer it. Go on field research trips as a volunteer (or poorly paid staff) to get the field experience necessary to understand if you really like the field, and what particular areas of research or other study you might be interested in.

I got my PhD and did the research scientist and university professor stuff for some time. However, I found (or rather, rediscovered) that I really enjoyed doing educational work that reaches the general public with marine biological information and conservation messages. Now I write a weekly newspaper column, produce a daily cable TV show, create educational DVD's, sell stock video footage, etc.

I love what I do, but I don't earn much at it. Fortunately I did earlier in my life and can afford to be a "starving marine biologist" for a while.

Remember, there are many others who want to pursue the path you are considering. Develop experience and skills that set you apart, and professional contacts that can help you move forward. People skills are also important.

 

[RoyN]

What about Marine Science? Can you become a Marine Biologist through an Enviromental Studies bachelors degree? When I was exploring the majors, I saw Marine Biology was under Enviromental studies, thats causing some huge confusion in my little head here...

 

[archman]

What about Marine Science? Can you become a Marine Biologist through an Enviromental Studies bachelors degree? When I was exploring the majors, I saw Marine Biology was under Enviromental studies, thats causing some huge confusion in my little head here...

In my opinion, these "environmental science" or "resource management" degrees many schools are now offering dilute the amount of *actual biology learning* to an inadequate level. In short, they suck as proxies for biology degrees. I have known numerous people coming out of schools with these degrees and their lack of basic training in the life sciences is truly appalling. I'm not sure what sort of career path such degrees will get people, and am fearing that many will end up as "consultants" or in government work and make a mess of things.

So my advice on looking for degree program conducive to marine biology: make sure that what you're getting is a *biology degree*.

Your undergraduate degree plan should have very few electives. What it will have is a long list of biology core courses, that (depending on your school) may be flexible to specific focus tracks (eg. cell and molecular, ecology, botany).

For marine biology as an undergraduate major, key classes that should be present in a curriculum should include:
-ecology (of some kind)
-botany (at least one class in something)
-at least two different courses in specific zoological groups (eg. ornithology, marine mammals, fishes, invertebrates)
-a comparative anatomy and/or physiology class, or something vaguely related (eg. embryology)
-field methods class (if you're lucky!)
-introductory oceanography (or marine geography)

Also for a biology degree will be *generic* life sciences courses that pretty much everyone takes. They "well-round" you.
-general introductory biology
-biochemistry (don't forget the organic and inorganic chemistry precursor classes)
-microbiology
-genetics/cell and molecular biology
-biostatistics (hopefully)

As you can see, there ain't much room for electives. Having interviewed many environmental science and resource majors, I have been informed that many such students pursue the latter tracks precisely because they don't think they can "hack" biology track. I think that's silly; these classes aren't normally all that difficult... the students just don't want to commit to them. Or the schools simply don't offer the classes and have to *make do* with these newfangled enviro science/natural resource programs. One advantage with this approach is that fewer specialist biology faculty are required... often a WHOLE lot less.

So my advice if looking at an Environmental Science degree for use as a biology degree proxy; CHECK THE CURRICULUM REQUIREMENTS.

There are many threads on Scubaboard about marine biology as a college major or as a career path. Use the "Search" feature and type in "marine biology", "career", "job", "school", etc... and stuff will pop up. Pretty good information, as it so happens.

 

[RoyN]

Uh oh....is it possible to get a Masters in biology when getting the Enviromental Studies degree? If I were to change major right now, it will be a major setback and I'll be staying in school for quite a long time.

 

[archman]

Uh oh....is it possible to get a Masters in biology when getting the Enviromental Studies degree? If I were to change major right now, it will be a major setback and I'll be staying in school for quite a long time.

Oops. Normally, it's the other way around. You get your *base biology knowledge* from your undergraduate major, and then if you so choose, take postgraduate studies in environmental science. Postgraduate studies in life sciences usually offer advanced versions of biology courses taken at the undergraduate level. If one lacks such *base courses*, many schools won't accept you.

The problem with "environmental studies" degrees is that they (usually) don't offer anywhere near enough life sciences credits, particularly specialized upper-division courses. It's even more exacerbated if the degree states "environmental studies" vs. "environmental science", as the former can *get away* with requiring even fewer science credits.

However, depending on your specific career focus, it may not be necessary to possess a great deal of biology knowledge. Many government and consulting agencies are highly specific in their employees' job duties. If you have the training to perform such duties (eg. water quality monitoring, GIS work, wetlands mitigation), anything else is functionally superfluous. There are LOTS of environmental scientists in government work who perform biological duties.

What often happens in (good) biology graduate schools where the enrollees don't possess undergraduate biology degrees is that the department will make you take "remedial" biology courses. It's more like "crash courses", actually. Assuming the graduate program accepts non-majors at all. Environmental Sciences is a relatively new degree type, and graduate enrollment committees may examine an applicant's transcripts to see if there are sufficient biology credits.

Postgraduate degrees are far more variable in their requirements and training than undergraduate degrees. Even within a single school's department, graduate students may receive highly divergent training depending on their degree plan and assigned faculty laboratory... assuming you get the latter. If you don't get into a faculty laboratory and you're seeking a postgraduate biology degree, something is terribly wrong. Which is why graduate school applicants are always advised to shop for professors first, schools second.

Environmental studies majors focus on the uh... environment. Training is primarily geared towards air, water, or terrestrial monitoring (of chemical agents, usually), resource use, and human effects. Biology majors on the other hand, focus on living organisms. Both majors tend to share similarities in the first two years of college, but starting the junior year, rapidly diverge.

 

[RoyN]

I'll still be taking Biology class and marine related science as an elective class, would that help?