Oceanography | December 2017
the school includes options for a BA and
minors such as oceanography, climate,
Arctic studies, and ocean technology
attached to various other programs. The
program is reaching out to fill a variety of
needs, including attracting students who
might want to learn more about the ocean
while pursuing other career paths.
My own institution, Oregon State
University, is starting an innovative pro-
gram called the Marine Studies Initiative.
Note the word “studies” rather than
“science” in the name: the program is a
collaboration between the College of
Liberal Arts and the College of Earth,
Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences in a
university-wide commitment to extend
the reach of marine topics into areas of
arts, literature, and elsewhere. This ini-
tiative also includes a residential compo-
nent in which the students can spend a
few terms living by the ocean and absorb-
ing its rhythms. The goal is to engage stu-
dents who might not think of themselves
as oceanographers by using the ocean
examples for addressing global prob-
lems, from climate change, to coastal pol-
lution, to food from the sea. The State of
Oregon has contributed funds to make
sure students—including those from
diverse backgrounds who might not have
contemplated marine studies—can expe-
rience the ocean. Regardless of whether
these students become oceanographers,
they gain knowledge about the ocean and
the earth that will be useful in their future
careers and lives.
These programs in South Carolina,
Washington, and Oregon are just a few
examples of ongoing experiments in
ocean education. Other institutions
around the world also have excellent
programs for undergraduates and for
the public. Nevertheless, as a field we
could do far more. Experiential learn-
ing is labor intensive and expensive, and
it is difficult to scale hands-on programs
to reach a large number of students. But
overcoming these challenges is critical
to our work and to the people it benefits.
Our traditionally strong research pro-
grams are an asset that can be leveraged
for experience-based education, and in
turn an educated public will understand
the long-term needs of fundamental dis-
covery related to the ocean and many
other fields—research that in the long
run fuels economic vitality and inter-
national understanding.
The Oceanography Society would like
to facilitate the sharing of information
about undergraduate oceanography pro-
grams, including options for non-majors,
so that we can all learn from each other’s
successes and failures, develop best prac-
tices, and inspire new and innovative
undergraduate classes and programs. A
good place to get started thinking about
this topic is through reading the nearly
two decades of “The Oceanography
Classroom”
columns
published
in
Oceanography that are written by expe-
rienced and creative undergraduate edu-
cators (see https://tos.org/classroom). If
you would like to join a TOS commit-
tee on undergraduate education, let’s talk.
Your ideas are welcome.
Alan C. Mix, TOS President
Oceanography
Upcoming in
March 2018
Ocean Observatories Initiative
June 2018
Ocean Warming
September 2018 — Double Issue
Mathematical Aspects of
Physical Oceanography
and
Gulf of San Jorge,
Patagonia, Argentina
December 2018
Scientific Ocean Drilling:
Looking to the Future
March 2019
Salinity Processes in the Upper
ocean Regional Study (SPURS) – 2
Do you have an idea for a special issue
of Oceanography? Please send your
suggestions to Editor Ellen Kappel
at ekappel@geo-prose.com.
https://tos.org/oceanography
Oceanography
UPCOMING
SPECIAL ISSUES
Oceanography | December 2017