Lecture and student-led discussion course covers the interactions of physical and biological processes in marine ecosystems. The course begins by looking at these processes on global to regional scales and works down to the smaller scales. The course introduces students to modern techniques of marine-ecosystems research, including remote sensing and ecosystem modeling. The course focuses on anthropogenic impacts on the global ocean as well as the sustainable use of its services and resources.

Lectures and discussion focus on current research in marine ecosystems with an emphasis on processes unique to marine systems and current issues of ocean sustainability. A synthetic treatment of multiple levels of organization in the ocean including organismal, population, community, and ecosystems. Examples are drawn from all types of marine habitats, including polar seas, temperate coastal waters, and tropical coral reefs.

This class relies more on intuitive reasoning rather than complicated mathematical formulas to convey basic concepts about how the ocean works. For this reason, the class is very accessible to non-science majors. The class covers standard material about how the ocean works, but also includes current environmental threats facing the ocean such as global warming, ocean acidification, overfishing and coastal pollution. Students will gain a depth of knowledge about the ocean and global warming to enable them to speak and write confidently about contemporary public issues regarding the health of the ocean, global warming and a sustainable future.