Bulletin--Marine Science Discipline

MARINE SCIENCE

College of Science and Engineering
(See Marine Science for information on the degree)

Undergraduate Courses

MOSS LANDING MARINE LABORATORIES

San Francisco State University is one of the cooperating State Universities and Colleges in the use of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories. The following courses are offered at these facilities.

303 Marine Ecology (4)

F,S
Prerequisites: ecology, statistics (or concurrent registration in MSCI 304), or consent of instructor. Field-oriented introduction to the interrelationships between marine and estuarine organisms and their environment with emphasis on quantitative data collection and analysis. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

304 Quantitative Marine Science (4)

F,S
Prerequisite: college mathematics. Mathematical methods for analysis of biological, chemical and physical data from the marine environment; experimental design, parametric and non-parametric statistics. Classwork, three units; laboratory, one unit.

305 Marine Science Diving (3)

F,S
Prerequisites: upper division science major status and ability to pass swimming test. Skin and scuba diving course; five ocean dives include underwater sampling and survey techniques. Successful completion gives NAUI and MLML certification. (No credit toward science major.) Classwork, one unit; laboratory and field work, two units.

310 Introduction to Marine Animal Behavior (4)

Prerequisite: MSCI 303 or consent of instructor. Basic theoretical concepts of animal behavior, stressing the causation, development, and evolution of behavior. Emphasis is on the marine environment. Classwork, three units; laboratory, one unit.

312 Marine Birds and Mammals (4)

A
Prerequisites: upper division college vertebrate zoology; MSCI 303 or BIOL 585 recommended. Systematics, morphology, ecology, and biology of marine birds and mammals. Classwork, two units; laboratory and field work, two units.

313 Marine Ichthyology (4)

S
Prerequisites: college zoology or equivalent; MSCI 303 or BIOL 585 recommended. The taxonomy, morphology, function, and ecology of marine fishes. Classwork, two units; laboratory and field work, two units. (Not open to students who have completed BIOL 571.)

324 Marine Invertebrate Zoology I (4)

Prerequisites: college zoology or consent of instructor; MSCI 303 or BIOL 585 recommended. A field oriented introduction to the structure, systematics, evolution and life histories of the major marine invertebrate phyla. Classwork, two units; laboratory and field work, two units.

325 Marine Invertebrate Zoology II (3)

Prerequisite: college zoology or consent of instructor; MSCI 303 and 324 recommended. Field oriented introduction to the structure, systematics, evolution and life histories of the minor marine invertebrate phyla. Classwork, one unit; laboratory, two units.

331 Marine Botany (4)

F
MSCI 303 recommended. Introduction to the plants of the sea, marshes, and dunes, with emphasis on the morphology, taxonomy, and natural history of seaweeds and vascular plants. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

335 Physiological Ecology of Marine Algae (4)

Prerequisites: MSCI 344, 331, 303, or consent of instructor. Develops a physiological basis for understanding the adaptation of marine algae to their environment. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

341 Geological Oceanography (4)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 342 or 343 (may be taken concurrently). The structure, physiography, and composition of the sea bottom and shoreline. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

342 Physical Oceanography (4)

Prerequisite: college algebra; college physics recommended. An introduction to the nature and causes of various oceanic motions including currents, waves, tides, and mixing, and the physical properties of seawater including transmission of sound and light. Does not require calculus. Classwork, three units; laboratory, one unit.

343 Chemical Oceanography (4)

Prerequisite: one year of college chemistry. An introduction to the theoretical and practical aspects of the chemistry of the oceans, including major salts, dissolved gases, nutrient ions, carbonate system, transient tracers, and shipboard sampling techniques. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

344 Biological Oceanography (4)

Prerequisites: general biology, general chemistry. The ocean as an ecological system. Emphasis is on the complexity of organismal-environmental interaction of the plankton, the transfer of organic matter between trophic levels and nutrient cycles. Laboratory includes methods of sampling, shipboard techniques, identification of the plankton, and current analytical techniques. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

361 Marine Fisheries (4)

Prerequisites: college mathematics, MSCI 304 or consent of instructor; MSCI 303 recommended. An introduction to fishery biology, including the concepts, stock, recruitment and yield emphasizing the parameters abundance, age, growth and mortality. Discussion of hydrography and fishery ecology, management problems, world fisheries and mariculture, and collection and analysis of fishery data.

373 Topics in Marine Biology (1-4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Study of a selected area in marine biology (morphology, physiology, ecology, etc.). Topics vary depending on student demand and availability of instructors.

374 Topics in Oceanography (1-4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Study of a selected area in oceanography. Topics vary depending on student demand and availability of instructors.

375 Topics in Marine Science (2-4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Study of a selected area in marine sciences. Subjects vary from one offering to the next depending on demand and availability of instructors.

377 Microscopic Techniques (3)

Prerequisites: one semester of college physics and consent of instructor. Principles and techniques of light and electron microscopy. Consideration of brightfield, darkfield, phase contrast and interference contrast light microscopy; episcopic and diascopic illumination systems; photomicrography; preparation of materials for and operation of the scanning electron microscope.

699 Individual Study (1-3)

F,S
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Faculty directed study of selected research problems in the marine sciences. Open to undergraduate students having adequate subject matter preparation for the selected problem.

Graduate Courses

702 Marine Instrumental Analysis (4)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 342, 343, and oceanography. Theory and use of advanced instrumentation; advanced field and laboratory techniques for the interpretation of data collected in marine science research. Classwork, two units; laboratory and field work, two units.

704 Sampling and Experimental Design (4)

Prerequisites: MSCI 304. Basic design of experiments and field sampling, discussion of random sampling, systematic sampling, subsampling, survey techniques, and design of single and multifactorial experiments using randomized and block experimental designs.

711 Ecology of Marine Birds and Mammals (4)

Prerequisites: MSCI 303, 304, 312. Community approach to the ecology of marine birds and mammals using experimental and sampling methodology. Examining the distribution, abundance, trophic ecology, and behaviors of birds and mammals in Elkhorn Slough. Aerial and boat surveys to determine distribution and abundance. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

712 Advanced Topics in Marine Vertebrates (1-4)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 312, 313 or consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Advanced consideration of the ecology, physiology, and phylogeny of fishes, birds, or mammals emphasizing current literature and research. Topics and emphasis vary with term and instructor. May be repeated once for credit.

722 Biology of the Mollusca (4)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 321 or BIOL 555 and consent of instructor. Systematics, functional morphology, ecology, and physiology of the mollusca with emphasis on marine forms. Classwork, two units; laboratory and field work, two units.

731 Biology of Seaweeds (4)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 331 or consent of instructor. Lecture-discussions on marine macroalgal biology with extensive reading of original literature. Ecologically oriented individual research projects involving laboratory culture and field experimentation. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

733 Advanced Topics in Marine Ecology (1-4)

Prerequisites: MSCI 303 and consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Selected topics and current issues in marine ecology. Topics vary depending on student demand and availability of instructors.

734 Advanced Biological Oceanography (4)

Prerequisite: MSCI 344 or consent of instructor. Experimental techniques in biological oceanography with emphasis on problems important in plankton ecology. Includes lectures, labs, and discussions of current research problems. An individual research project analytical tools required. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

744 Paleoceanography (4)

Prerequisites: MSCI 341 or consent of instructor. Interdisciplinary studies of the provenance, biologic and geologic composition of marine sediments, and of the organisms contributing to their formation; sedimentary processes affecting these sediments. Classwork, three units; laboratory, one unit.

745 Deep Sea Sedimentation (4)

Prerequisite: MSCI 341 or consent of instructor. Study of the types of marine sediment found in the deepest part of all oceans; the sedimentary processes responsible for the deposition, preservation, and re-deposition of these sediments. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

751 Marine Geochemistry (4)

A
Prerequisite: MSCI 301 or physical oceanography, quantitative analysis, one year of calculus, or consent of instructor. Geochemical processes in the oceans; thermodynamics of low temperature aqueous reactions, weathering, oxidation-reduction and biologically mediated reactions, processes occurring at the sea floor and air-sea interface. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

761 Ocean Circulation and Mixing (4)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 342; college physics strongly recommended. Mathematical description of the distribution of various properties (density, dissolved oxygen, etc.) in the oceans relating to physical and biochemical processes. Theory of distribution of variables, geostrophic method. Classwork, three units; laboratory, one unit.

762 Satellite Oceanography (4)

Prerequisites: MSCI 342, 344, or consent of instructor. Recommended: MSCI 763 and computer literacy. Physical principles of remote sensing of earth's oceans, including satellite systems, oceanographic applications of satellite imagery, and image processing methods. Laboratory involves use of PC and UNIX workstation image processing. Classwork, two units; laboratory, two units.

763 Applications of Computers in Oceanography (2)

Prerequisites: MSCI 304, college mathematics, and consent of instructor. Lecture, discussion, practical experience with a multi-user computer for marine science applications: use of existing programs and subroutine libraries; computer communications; scientific programming for data input/output and analysis. Semester project required.

771 Population Biology (3)

A
Prerequisites: MSCI 303 or BIOL 585 and MSCI 304 or statistics or consent of instructor. Interactions among marine organisms which result in the alteration of population structures. Techniques for assessment and management of animal populations. Classwork, two units; laboratory, one unit.

772 Subtidal Ecology (4)

Prerequisites: MLML diver certification and marine ecology; knowledge of marine algae, invertebrates, and statistics recommended. The ecology of near shore, rocky, subtidal populations and communities with emphasis on kelp forests. Field work with SCUBA including group projects on underwater research techniques and community analysis; individual research on ecological questions.

774 Advanced Topics in Oceanography (1-4)

Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Study of a selected area in oceanography. Topic varies depending on student demand and availability of instructors.

780 Scientific Writing (2)

Prerequisites: graduate standing and consent of instructor. Written communication is a vital part of science. Deals with the basic aspects of scientific writing. Examples of poorly and well written papers are presented for discussion in class sessions.

885 Seminar in Marine Biology (2)

F,S
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Topics change each semester. Each student required to present at least one seminar. May be repeated once for credit.

886 Seminar in Marine Geology (2)

A
Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Topic to be specified in Class Schedule. Topics change each semester. Each student required to present at least one seminar. May be repeated once for credit.

887 Seminar in Oceanography (2)