Summer 2008 Undergraduate Courses

Prerequisites for all courses include upper-division standing and six hours of biology or consent of instructor.

Five Week Undergraduate Sessions

First Session June 5 - July 12 (in Port Aransas)

MNS f352.  Principles of Estuarine Ecology - This course will be offered by video link from Port Aransas, Texas for students in Austin to ACES 2.402 - Shank & Dunton.  Habitats and ecosystem processes common to estuarine environments, including physiography, hydrography, and plant and animal community structure and productivity.

MTWF
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Linked to ACES 2.402

MNS f152L.  Principles of Estuarine Ecology Laboratory - This course is taught in Port Aransas, Texas - Shank & Dunton.  Field ecology of Texas estuaries, with emphasis on open bay, seagrass, and marsh systems (two full-day and one overnight field trip).  Contains a substantial writing component and fulfills part of the Basic Education requirement in writing.

TH
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

MNS f152T.  Coastal Watersheds – This course will be offered over two consecutive weekends in Port Aransas, Texas (June 28-29 & July 5-6) - McClelland.  This lab/field course will emphasize river water sampling, flow measurement techniques, water chemistry, and methods of data analysis that are essential for estimating the transport of materials from land into the coastal ocean.  The first weekend will focus on field techniques and will include trips to the Mission and Aransas rivers.  During the second weekend, the first day will focus on water chemistry measurements and the second day will focus on data analysis.

MNS f152T.  Coastal Environmental Science in Texas Bays – This course will be offered over two consecutive weekends in Port Aransas, Texas (June 7-8, & 21-22) - Min.  Practical studies of Texas coastal environments field and laboratory.  Topics include relevant physical, geochemical, and biological factors governing the productivity of the Texas coastal ecosystem.

MNS f152S.  Undergraduate Seminar in Marine Science – This course is taught in Port Aransas, Texas - Pease.  This course on current topics in marine science will include weekly seminar talks by distinguished experts in their fields of research followed by a group session to facilitate informal discussions with each seminar speaker.  The speakers will include some of the current faculty members and visiting scientists. The topics to be covered will range from biology or physiology of marine organisms to their chemical-physical interactions with the marine environment. The students will be required to write a short summary (<1 page) describing main objectives/questions addressed in each talk and what they learned from it. The topics covered during the two summer sessions will be different because of the broad range of research interests of the speakers.

F
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Second Session July 14 - August 18 (in Port Aransas)

MNS s352.  Marine Invertebrate Ecology – This course will be offered by video link from Port Aransas, Texas for students in Austin to ACES 2.402 - Staff.  Study of invertebrate taxonomy, structure, behavior, and ecology.

MTWF
8:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Linked to ACES 2.402

MNS s152L.  Marine Invertebrate Ecology Laboratory – Taught in Port Aransas, Texas - Buskey.  The taxonomy and structure of marine invertebrate populations with emphasis on field sampling and laboratory studies of invertebrate habitats of the Texas Coast.  Requires three full-day field trips to local habitats.

TH
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

MNS s152T.  Diversity of Marine Phytoplankton – This course will be offered over two consecutive weekends in Port Aransas, Texas (July 26-27 & August 2-3) - Erdner.  This short course will provide an overview of the taxonomic and functional diversity of eukaryotic and prokaryotic phytoplankton.  Each of the four class meetings will include an introductory lecture (approx. 2 hours) followed by a field and/or laboratory session (4-6 hours).  Topics include: water sampling techniques, phytoplankton identification, phytoplankton phylogeny, algal pigments, cell enumeration, growth rate estimations, and primary production.

Cost and Deadlines: All courses are three credit hours; upper-division undergraduate courses are 350 series, graduate courses are 380 series; 350 series may also be taken by graduate students. In-state tuition are (estimates) $1,773/session/3 credit hours; and $2,620/session/6 credit hours; corresponding out-of-state tuition rates are $3,920-$5,674 and $5,790-$8,382. A scholarship program is available to defray some housing costs. Enrollment in University housing is limited, so early application is recommended. Deadline for receipt of applications is April 1, 2008. Students will be notified of a decision on their application by April 15, 2008.

The following forms must be completed and returned no later than April 1, 2008:

Click here to register for the summer program.