Marine Studies Minor

There is a large range of courses and programs available to students interested in marine environmental studies at Northeastern University.

The Marine Studies Minor Program is designed to suit students from a range of academic backgrounds. The Minor program is loosely structured to allow personalizing courses, at least one marine studies course, mastery of a marine-related skill (most people take SCUBA), and an independent project associated with the oceans.
See Requirements here.

Northeastern is a participating university with the Sea Education Association, which offers the SEA SEMESTER program out of Woods Hole. This program includes course work both at the Woods Hole and on one of the tall ships operated by the program. Destinations of cruises range from Labrador to the Caribbean in the Atlantic, and Hawaii to Tahiti in the Pacific. This program earns 17 semester-hours for course work, and nearly completes the entire Minor program while providing blue water experience. The SEA Semester courses receive credit directly from Northeastern, and the College offers a waiver of some Core Curriculum requirements as an added benefit for participation. Further information is listed below. An informative video is available from the Marine Studies Office.

Minor are also available in Environmental Geology, which allows a concentration in earth surface processes (pollution, environmental planning, etc.), or Environmental Studies, which crosses sciences and social sciences that may complement your Major concentration or interests. There are frequent opportunities for field trips, many to coastal sites, through this program. We try to keep the Marine Studies Minors updated on these as they are scheduled.

Northeastern University is a member of the Massachusetts Bay Marine Studies Consortium. The Consortium offers several exciting limited-enrollment courses made up of students from 18 local colleges. The courses include:

Marine Consortium Courses

INT 200 Introduction to Marine Studies S, I
INT 210 Introduction to Marine Mammals S, A
INT 300 Into the Ocean World S, A
INT 305 Maritime History H, A
INT 310 Water Resources Policy and Management H, A
INT 315 Wetlands S, A
INT 325 Coastal Zone Management S, A
INT 500 Advanced Seminar in Marine Studies S, A

These courses begin in late January or early September, meet one night a week and you register for them as 4 sh Northeastern courses. Permission is required to enroll in these course, as space is limited and transportation may have to be arranged. The courses do not necessarily appear in the University course book. Priority is given to Marine Studies Minors, but there is often space available for other interested students.

The University operates the Marine Science Center at Nahant, which focuses on marine biological research. The Nahant Lab offers a number of summer courses in marine biology. As well, the lab sponsors the Three Seas Program in which students undertake advanced courses in marine biology over three academic semesters on three different oceans. For more information, please contact Sal Genovese at Nahant (595-5597) or view their Web site below. All of these courses may be applied to the Marine Studies Minor.

If you have interest in the Marine Studies Minor, the upcoming Consortium courses, or any of these other programs, please contact Dr. Peter Rosen (Coordinator of the Marine Studies Minor Program) in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, 14 Holmes Hall, 373-4380 or by E-Mail.


Click on the topics below for more information relevant to the Marine Studies Minor Program

Center for Interdisciplinary Studies

Marine Studies Minor course listing and requirements.

NU Sailing Team

The Northeastern Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences

SEA Semester

Sea Grant Marine Careers

Three Seas Program

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Massachusetts Bay Marine Studies Consortium

Scripps Institute of Oceanography; Center for Coastal Studies

University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography

Island Resources Foundation

Marine Science Center at Nahant

To join the Marine Studies mailing list, send an email to environment@neu.edu.

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