Plans for Marine Science Education

[jon stoops]

Online education used to be my profession. I was the Executive Director of Curriculum for one of the world's largest online education companies.

In the early days, colleges frequently told professors to create an online program in their spare time while giving next to no instruction on how to do it. Many of those classes were little more than lists of reading assignments from a textbook. Others were a little more complex, with some written material delivered online or videos of lectures. In contrast, when we made online courses, they was made by teams of specialists designing content, creating visuals aids, and using specialized software to make the courses interactive. Creating a single course would typically cost us about $100,000. That was a decade ago, and I am sure that cost is now significantly higher.

The range in quality of online courses is enormous.

Hello, I am new to this site and really not sure how it all works, so I apologize for commenting on this thread, please delete if not allowed. My son is a junior in high school and still trying to figure out what he is wanting to do for college. He currently says he wants to be a marine biologist, but I am not sure if he understands what that entails, and if he even has the grades for that, he is 3.0/4.0 student. He really wants to be near the water and work on the water so I am asking for a little guidance on the best degrees we should look for and possible colleges to attend. The caveat to all of this is that he is a very good baseball player and wants to continue to play baseball. I know this is a lot to ask for but if anyone has some guidance that would be great. We live in Indiana so google searches are about my only source of knowledge try to help him.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yours is an unusual question, and I moved it to a forum that is more appropriate, Moreover, as a new thread your question is more likely to receive attention than it would at the end of an old thread on a different topic.

As someone who enjoyed a career in high school education, I have seen this sort of question countless times. I used to include a unit with my seniors dealing with this, so I have a week's worth of information and advice to give you, but I will distill it down to the bare essence here.

1. The fact that your son is this much of a plan at this age is unusual. Most high school students have no idea what they want to do at this point in their lives.
2. That doesn't really matter, because there is a really good chance that he will eventually change his mind based on his experiences in the coming years. I went to college as a chemistry major myself, and I exited as an English major.
3. He should prepare for his goal as a marine biologist by taking the most appropriate high school courses he can so that he is best prepared for it in college. He should avoid the trap many high school seniors fall into by taking a load of fluff courses so that they can enjoy that last year to the fullest. It is a huge mistake.
4. He should definitely pick a college that offers what he wants--marine biology and baseball. That will not be hard. The best places for marine biology are often located in good places for baseball.
5. Because colleges know there is a good chance that he might change his mind, their requirements for first and second year students are general enough to allow exploration and adjustments. No need to feel locked in.

Because of his interest in marine biology, I suggest that he get certified as a scuba diver ASAP and go to college with at least those basic skills completed.

 

[jon stoops]

John this is great advice, thank you so much, I just read it to him and makes complete sense. We have reached out to several schools on the the coast of Florida as well, but SCUBA certification will be the next priority. Thank you

 

[FezUSA]

I would add that once he gets to college and has verified that he indeed does still want to follow that path, that he looks early into summer internships that will offer experience and learning. Even if not doing it the first summer, it is good to know what would be expected and what skills/knowledge would be required. On these forums you can find opportunities, just for example, for diving internships in Indonesia with a marine biology/ ecology basis. It's unpaid but they provide food/lodging. You're diving and mapping reef systems etc. Probably all the 'grunt' work, but an amazing experience, good for the CV (resume) and can help the student know what they're really getting into. I'd imagine that there might be more local and similar opportunities too, not just a diver/cleaner of the local aquarium (not that this is a bad opportunity, at least once!).

 

[diversteve]

He also may want to see about intern possibilities with American Academy of Underwater Sciences as he progresses. I believe they have a scholarship program also.

 

[loosenit2]

My daughter has expressed similar interests, although she is a few years younger than your son. We got her open water certified to help encourage the interest. A couple of resources we have found below.

Internship | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Marine Biology Degree Programs in the U.S. (by State) – MarineBio Conservation Society

Internships and Fellowships

 

[RyanT]

As a biology professor, here is my recommendation. Have him major in biology, not marine biology, for his undergraduate degree. In college, if he decides he wants to stick with marine biology as a career, he'll need to go to graduate school. The B.S. in biology will prepare him well for graduate program in marine science. If he decides not to continue on with marine biology, the general biology degree can serve him well. He'll leave college not only with the "biology" part, but the degree from most schools also includes strong quantitative components in math and chemistry. The additional advantage of not searching out a specific undergraduate marine biology program is that virtually all universities offer a biology degree. That will give him more flexibility about where he can play baseball. One thing he should understand, however, an undergraduate degree in the sciences takes more work than some other degrees. Getting good grades in a science degree while playing sports is not an easy task. With that said, I've had lots of students do it successfully.

 

[tursiops]

As a biology professor, here is my recommendation. Have him major in biology, not marine biology, for his undergraduate degree. In college, if he decides he wants to stick with marine biology as a career, he'll need to go to graduate school. The B.S. in biology will prepare him well for graduate program in marine science. If he decides not to continue on with marine biology, the general biology degree can serve him well. He'll leave college not only with the "biology" part, but the degree from most schools also includes strong quantitative components in math and chemistry. The additional advantage of not searching out a specific undergraduate marine biology program is that virtually all universities offer a biology degree. That will give him more flexibility about where he can play baseball. One thing he should understand, however, an undergraduate degree in the sciences takes more work than some other degrees. Getting good grades in a science degree while playing sports is not an easy task. With that said, I've had lots of students do it successfully.

^^^THIS^^^
In addition, he should take math, statistics, and computer-science courses, both undergrad and grad. There are a LOT of marine biology graduates looking for jobs....having an applicable secondary skill-set helps a lot, and the math-oriented skills are not common in marine biology graduates....partly because they may have taken biology in order to avoid math.

 

[RyanT]

And just to follow up on @tursiops' post, indeed, encourage him to take the math/stats (more is better) AND computer-science/programing courses. Way back when I was an undergrad, computer science wasn't that important. Now, it is an incredibly valuable skill both in the sciences (there is a whole field called bioinformatics) and elsewhere.

 

[michael-fisch]

Don't most Marine Biologists who can't stay and find employment at university, end up working for one of the various Fishfarms/Aquaculture companies?
Either you stay at the university, or your helping to grow salmon in a pond?
Michael