Oceanography

The Oceanography Department houses faculty and students who study the marine environment through interdisciplinary ocean systems science that encompasses physical, chemical, biological, geological, and fisheries oceanography. Research programs are based on new observations, time-series studies and modeling. Our research includes exploration of the Arctic Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska; ocean circulation patterns and their relationship to ocean-atmosphere-sea ice interactions; dynamics of internal waves; trophic (food web) dynamics and associated biogeochemistry; and a range of studies linking climate variation to the marine ecosystem.

Oceanography faculty and students conduct wide-ranging field research focused on high latitudes, not only in the Alaska region and the Arctic but also in the Antarctic/Southern Ocean, Greenland, the North Pacific, and elsewhere.

The Oceanography program offers graduate degrees at the M.S. and Ph.D. levels, and our faculty teach courses in the B.S. Fisheries and Marine Sciences and the undergraduate Minor in Marine Science.