OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss.--(BUSINESS WIRE via COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Mar 18, 2002--Whether it is observing dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico or biochemical processes in the DNA of a fish, The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Summer Field Program here offers a scientific smorgasbord of college courses for undergraduate and graduate students.
Registration is now under way for the program that mixes field work, lecture and laboratory. Classes open with a ''May Mester'' May 13-24 on the invertebrates that inhabit northern Gulf beach habitats. First term classes open May 27 and second term starts July 1.
''The GCRL Summer Field Program is a tradition for a number of our university affiliates in Mississippi and mid-western states,'' Dr. William Hawkins, chair and professor of coastal sciences said. ''Students can earn up to 12 semester hours during the 10-week program. There is a culture among faculty and scientific staff of helping and challenging students, and that brings students back.''
Hawkins said the first course to fill up each year is Marine Mammals, taught by Dr. Keith Mullin of the National Marine Fisheries Service in Pascagoula. Marine Biology, a prerequisite to a number of other courses, also fills quickly and is taught both first and second terms.
Two- or three-week ''special topic'' courses offered this year take a look a dolphin behavior and the marine plants and invertebrates associated with the submerged aquatic vegetation of Mississippi`s coastal environments.
Other popular courses for 2002 are Oceanography, Marine Aquaculture, Marine Invertebrate Zoology, Marine Ecology, Marine Ichthyology, Applications of Biotechnology in Marine Biology and Coastal Ecology for Teachers.
Credits earned at GCRL are transferred to a student`s home institution. For application materials or more information, go to www.coms.usm.edu/GCRL/academic/ or contact [email protected], 228/872-4201. The GCRL summer program is administered by the Department of Coastal Sciences, part of The University of Southern Mississippi College of Marine Sciences. The department is headquartered at the GCRL.
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