Textbooks 

Estuarine Ecology, J.W. Day et al., Wiley Interscience, 1989.
Lalli, C.M. and T.R. Parsons. 1995. Biological Oceanography: An Introduction. Butterworth-Heinemann.
*Mann, K.H. and J.R.N. Lazier. 1991. Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems. Blackwell.
Valiela, I. 1995. Marine Ecological Processes. Springer.
Open University. 1998. Ocean Circulation. Pergamon.
Day, J.W. et al. 1989. Estuarine Ecology. John Wiley.
*Alongi, D.M. 1997. Coastal Ecosystem Processes. CRC Press.
      *Required textbooks

Objectives of the Course

The purpose of this class is to provide a graduate level introduction to Biological Oceanography, Coastal Oceanography and Physical Oceanography for students planning on research in Biological and Chemical aspects of marine Science. The first half of the course will concentrate on open ocean processes and the second half will focus on coastal processes. The class format will include lecture (3.5 hrs/week) and discussion sections (1 hr/week). Each student will be responsible for leading two discussion sections. For each, the student will compile a reference list of research articles on the topic and choose 2 papers for the class to read and discuss. The student will provide a brief one paragraph abstract that summarizes the research topic, give a 15-20 minute introduction to the topic, and lead the discussion of the two papers. 

Grading

The final course grade will be based on two lecture exams, two discussion topics, and quizzes as follows:
Midterm: 30%
Final Exam: 30%
Quizes: 30%
Discussion Topics: 10% (5% each)

Subtropical Seagrass Community, Laguna Madre, Texas

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