Ecology and the Marine Environment
Course Dates
Prerequisites
None.
Equivalent Note
Cornell students: this course is equivalent to BioEE 1610.
Cornell students, this course fulfills the following requirements (just like BioEE 1610):
- Core Course requirement for Biology majors; this course is equivalent to BioEE 1610 and fulfills core course requirement
- CALS Graduation requirement for Introductory Life Sciences/Biology
- CALS Graduation requirement for Physical and Life Sciences
- Ecology Course requirement for Science of Natural & Environmental Systems (SNES) majors
- Introductory Biology Lecture requirement for Biology & Society majors
- Required Biology course for Science of Earth Systems (SES) majors
- Intro Bio requirement for Biological Engineering students
Course Description
This course provides an introduction to ecology, covering interactions between marine organisms and the environment at scales of populations, communities, and ecosystems. The course culminates with a field-based research project with students working in the intertidal zone of Appledore Island and test concepts and theories learned in the classroom.
Students taking this course will:
- Gain knowledge about how plants and animals cope with environmental variation through a variety of adaptations;
- Develop a basic understanding of biogeographical patterns of species distributions and the application of the theory of island biogeography;
- Learn the major pathways and mechanisms of nutrient cycling and the human impacts on these cycles.
Internship opportunities: This course is recommended experience for SML's Intertidal Ecology Internship, Aquatic Ecology Internship, and Parasite Ecology Internship.
![]() |
![]() |
Faculty
Professor, School of Natural and Social Science, Purchase College SUNY
Associate Dean, College of Natural Resources and Sciences, Humboldt State University
Postdoctoral Associate, Research Foundation, University at Buffalo