Honors Oceanography

When thinking about getting away to some serene paradise to help forget about work or school obligations most people instantly think of the beach. Whether it be the west or east coast the beach is a universal symbol of peace and serenity, plus a little bit of fun. But this bliss has a whole different meaning to me. This is where I grew up and how I found myself. The west coast of Florida is the first time I felt the sand in my toes and the salt water on my face. These memories inspired me to give back to the ocean and its inhabitants and follow my dreams of becoming a marine biologist.

I’ve always had a keen interest in science. When I was younger, I viewed a dolphin show online. I was instantly fanisnated and later I was informed that the trainers were special marine biologists. The idea of becoming a marine biologist is still a dominate career choice for me. Last year, I was incredibly curious with the aspects that a marine biologist has to undertake that I researched the career path as part of my PLP. This only ignited my interest even further and when I was invited to attend the Flinders University I particularly focused on the marine biology and biology lectures.

Science versus pseudoscience is a heavily disputed topic in the scientific community. Thus, it is important to identify the two and understand the differences. Depending on the source and agenda it can be difficult to notice the difference. After researching this topic, in regards to the ocean, I found an article, “Science and pseudo-science on the ocean floor”.

Education has always been an important foundation upon which my family encouraged the most. Not just the education pertaining to structured schooling, but the fundamentals in life that require you to interact in society and be a part of something bigger than yourself. They demonstrated how to commit to values such as responsibility, motivation, and consistency; and, how to be open-minded and passionate about the things you believe in. These things all required a sacrifice in various ways. They always stress how “sometimes you need to give up something to get ahead, or how sometimes sacrificing the familiar and what you expect from yourself to get the results that you are seeking in the long run.”

If you have ever lived in proximity to coastal areas you may have seen coastline erosion first hand. The beaches you frequent during the summer may seem to be getting smaller and smaller every year. Why does your favorite beach seem to be disappearing? Coastal erosion is to blame. The waves, wind, tides and currents all play a part in the mechanism that is coastal erosion. When water and wind batter the shoreline sediments are carried out to sea and deposited on the sea floor or at other points along the coastline. This is called an erosional coastline. This erosion may be very apparent or seem to have happened overnight when it happens due to a large storm or extremely high tide.

I examine how rising or falling tide can affect the water level of Corte Madera Salt Marsh in this report. The data is from Wednesday (June 19th) and Thursday (June 20th). My hypothesis is that tide and water level have positive relationship. From the result, I learn that the water level and tide have positive relationship. However, when tide changes its direction, the water level is likely to stay or little change.

Define lithogeneous, biogenous, hydrogenous, and cosmogenous sediments. Why do you think it is important to be able to differentiate between these?

I first encountered the ocean in 1958; I was ten. Being a map enthusiast, I knew exactly where Florida was, and I was excited to swim in the salty Atlantic Ocean. Born and raised next to frigid Lake Michigan I understood a large body of water as well as a sandy beach, but no book or encyclopedia prepared me for understanding the flavor or immensity of an ocean and its adjoining shore. Arriving at the beach I raced across the hot pure white sand to keep my feet from burning, stopping in wonder when I saw ocean waves gently caressing a seashore that seemed to go on and on forever. I knew I was somewhere special.

The Barrier Reef is the largest reef in the world, and it is located in Australia. It is made up of different types of coral and fish, but sadly the reef is bleaching. Bleaching is the process of water temperatures getting too warm and as a result coral reefs can bleach. When water gets too warm, corals will get rid of the algae living inside their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white. Although, when coral reefs turn white this does not mean that they are dead, coral reefs can actually survive a bleaching event. It just means that the coral is under a lot of stress and

If Marine Science was not fascinating enough, think about how interesting it is that high school students are being introduced to it at such an early age, and how this introductory science can have a measurable impact on our environment. Today’s young adults do not cease to amaze and have become the future representatives of eco-friendly living. STPS’s very own Michael Conner had the honor of lecturing these eco-beacons and green go getters about sea turtles in Ryan Cilsick’s gifted 12th grade class. Ryan says that, “four science classes are requisite to graduate high school”. Ryan alone teaches six Science based classes at Edgewood High School in Merritt Island. Three of those are Honor Marine Science classes, one is an Honors Biology

The article that I read is entitled “Why the Earth’s past has scientists so worried about the Atlantic Ocean’s Circulation”. This article analyzes how global climate change may be contributing to the disruption of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation pattern. Additionally, this article is about how the circulation of the ocean closely correlates with major climate change, like glacial ice ages, which can possibly help us predict such events.

Due to all this, I have spent a huge amount of time on the water, looking at the water, and hearing about the water. Before eleventh grade, I applied for and received a wonderful summer internship at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. I knew that one

Not many public or community colleges offer oceanography as it is a very specific and requires many beginner classes to make it to oceanography. It is a course on the study on the ocean, animals in the plants in the ocean and other such things affected or affecting

If you are interested in adventuring the depths of the ocean, being a marine biologist is the job for you. As a marine biologist you will need to have several years of schooling in order to have a successful career. Being a marine biologist can be an enjoyable and dangerous job, but the journey is worth the ride.

In the case of increased scientific knowledge and development of research capacity, this is very easily measurable. We can start to look at how many papers are coming out for oceanic studies and also at the same time the increase in funding in this area. The rest of the goals start to become a lot harder to maintain; providing small-scales fisheries to more marine resources and markets is much more difficult that increasing knowledge since there is no real way of telling how many smaller operations like small villages on the coast there are around the globe. Even if we were able to start helping smaller groups we wouldn’t be able to see many more there are so we wouldn’t be able to a true percentage. The last goal can be generally measured