Marine Science- Marine Geology focus

Type of degree: M.S.

Brief overview of program: The UNCW Master of Science in marine science program is an interdisciplinary program in which students take courses in several core areas and conduct research in an aspect of marine science. Students write and present a research based thesis. UNCW also offers a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. in marine biology, and Master of Science programs with marine research in chemistry and geology. Cape Fear Community College, also located in Wilmington, offers two year programs in marine technology.

Website: Click here for program website

Description of Facilities: The MS marine science program is located in the Center for Marine Science and also in several academic buidlings including Dobo Hall, DeLoach Hall, Friday Hall as well as in the Wrightsville Beach Aquaculture Facility. The Center for Marine Science operates a fleet of small boats as well as the 68 foot RV Cape Fear. Research conducted in the Coastal and Marine Geophysics Laboratory (CMGL) at UNCW's Center for Marine Science is global in scope and involves the collection and analysis of a broad range of geophysical data. Major research focus areas include marine tectonics (mid-ocean ridge and subduction zone processes), seabed classification (estuarine and coastal ocean benthic habitats), and geohazards (active faults, submarine landslides and tsunamis, volcanic eruptions). Ongoing research programs include investigations of the morphology, structure and tectonics of the Southwest Indian Ridge, and the northeastern Caribbean-North American plate boundary (Puerto Rico Trench) using multibeam bathymetry, sidescan sonar, gravity, magnetics and single-channel seismic data. Multichannel seismic data and deep-sea scientific drilling are being utilized to investigate the tectonic, volcanic, sedimentary history and paleoclimate of the Caribbean basin and western Pacific. Coastal aspects of the program include the use of a ground penetrating radar system for archeologic investigations of Tambora volcano in Indonesia, and beach and coastal plain stratigraphy in North Carolina. In addition, high-resolution sidescan sonar and sub-bottom profiler systems are being used to monitor storm-driven sediment dynamics and to characterize the seabed habitats in the near-shore and mid-continental shelf off the SE North Carolina and Florida coasts , and to identify active faults on the western and southern insular shelf of Puerto Rico.

Program Faculty: Dr. Lewis Abrams: use of physical/chemical properties of subsurface marine sediments to detect paleoclimatic and volcanic cycles; tectonic, volcanic and sedimentary history of the Caribbean basin and western Pacific. Dr. William J. Cleary: inlet morphology; shoreface sediment dynamics Dr. Doug Gamble: Climatology, hydrology Dr. Nancy Grindlay: morphology and tectonics of submarine transform, convergent, and divergent plate boundaries using high-resolution swathmapping and geophysical instrumentation. Dr. Joanne Halls: Geographic Information Systems Dr. Eric Henry: Coastal hydrology, water resources Dr. Patricia Kelley: evolution and paleoecology of Coastal Plain molluscs, including escalation of predator-prey relationships from the Cretaceous through Recent. Dr. Richard A. Laws: biology and paleontology of marine phytoplankton and microphytobenthos. Dr. Lynn A. Leonard: dissolved and particulate fluxes in estuarine systems; depositional processes and evolution of tidal wetlands; sediment dynamics in estuarine systems. Dr. Craig Tobias: fate and transport of macroelements (e.g. carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen) in a variety of aquatic and near-shore marine habitats

Student Support: Tuition grants are available for in-state and out-of-state students. Most students also receive a stipend as either a teaching assistant or a research assistant.

Program Point of Contact: Dr. Joan D. Willey

Email: willeyj@uncw.edu

Institution address: 5001 Masonboro Loop Rd. One Marvin Moss Ln.
                             Wilmington,NC 28409