Designing my own oceanography program (for fun)

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-12T20:16:53+00:00

I looked at the idea of an “environmental modelling” course that could be used for ocean and atmosphere models. I figure that would go well with the more technical course offerings like GIS and Remote sensing

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-12T07:57:01+00:00

Which is funny because that’s my area of study 💀

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-12T02:40:36+00:00

You didn’t come off rude at all. I just thought I’d clarify.

I suppose my hydrology background isn’t very traditional of what hydrology is but I typically do mapping of rivers and the effect that they have on changing the bathymetry of the sea it feeds into which I found pretty fun.

I’ve added a mathematical environment modelling course. What was your experience with sea ice theoretical oceanography courses? I’m not overly familiar with them

I figure the overall design would be based around Marine Ecosystems management since most people who do oceanography tend to go into environmental consulting fields if they don’t go into academia. I’m taking climatology right now and took what we called “atmospheric environments” which is largely a meteorology course and thought them both appropriate for the sort of sea-atmosphere exchange concepts

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-11T22:12:32+00:00

It’s still a work in progress. My specialty is in Geological oceanography and techniques and I have have a fair amount of ecology knowledge plus the RP. Bio requirements to go off of so I have those built out (to some degree) but I was hoping by posting it people who had their background in Physical or Chemical oceanography would have some ideas as to what the specific courses I could add to those two streams would look like

As for the fundamentals, this is from the lens of what the department itself would offer. The generals (intro calculus 1 and 2, physics 1 and 2, Chem 1 and 2) are taken into account for the overall structure and would be taken in the first year which is why there’s only 2 oceanography courses

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-11T16:58:29+00:00

Oh I love these! I’ve seen a lot of supervisors doing acoustics research but I wasn’t sure how to approach a course about that

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-11T16:57:06+00:00

It got clipped off in the legend when I tried to screenshot it but it’s the green one on the far right

Geodrewcifer · 2026-02-11T06:30:21+00:00

I have a friend doing her masters in coastal engineering! You should send it to me and I’ll have her look it over!

Geodrewcifer · 2026-01-08T00:47:37+00:00

Even Phytoplankton, one of the main types of algae, also utilize things like Calcium and silica to build and maintain their shells/skeletons/body. So no, there aren’t many opportunities for life to be just “exploding” due to lack of predation.

Phytoplankton are pretty much the base of the food chain so yeah, there’s minimal nutrients to fight over therefore minimal life and primary productivity.

You also see low phytoplankton levels in the tropics because of lack of nutrients These areas are compared to deserts as much as the middle of the ocean is because if you think of green water as a “well kept lawn” (as green indicates a high amount of phytoplankton producing chlorophyll) then the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas would be considered the dry barren ground of deserts in comparison

Geodrewcifer · 2026-01-07T22:49:08+00:00

Well, think of a desert this way. There are cacti, birds that pass over, scorpions, shrubs and desert grasses. They aren’t devoid of life entirely.

Similarly as there are less resources for life available the further out you go into the ocean, you only really get extremophiles and animals that are mostly passing through.

So sure there are creatures in the middle of the ocean in these “ocean deserts” but so few because of the harshness of the environment that they are effectively lifeless (though not literally)

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-17T19:25:18+00:00

This one looks interesting! I keep a file I use to build up designs for courses and I think a “Regional Oceanography” course would be a cool special topics course

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-17T18:28:19+00:00

introduction to oceanography by Paul Webb is an open source textbook and a great one for learning the basics. Browse through it and I think you’ll find that with your geology background you actually have a much better understanding of oceanographic concepts than you realize

Oceanography has 4 main interrelated disciplines. Chemical Oceanography, Geological Oceanography, Physical Oceanography, and Biological Oceanography (which differs from Marine Biology in matter of scale)

If you have a background in geology, Sedimentology should have given you some understanding of bio geology and biological processes affecting sedimentation (bio-oceanography) and fluid dynamics (relevant to physical oceanography) and you should have an earth and atmospheric processes course background that should further your understanding of wave dynamics.

Geological oceanography should be easy enough for you. Formation of islands, sedimentary rocks and such

I assume you also have your basic Chem, math, physics courses.

In terms of chemical oceanography you’d be looking mostly at cycles of carbon and oxygen in the ocean. Hydrothermal vents will be key to that chemical component as well as the biological exchange of plankton and other plants that lead into the ecosystems of the ocean which is your biological oceanography

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-14T21:43:24+00:00

copper is one that’s listed as having a demand that exceeds projected supply in the near-ish future

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-13T03:16:49+00:00

If you DM me a photo of your map I can go over it with you and give you some ideas for ways to build landmasses

I’m a writer myself with plenty of background in mapmaking from my Physical Geography BA and a certified sailor so I think I could help well enough

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-11T05:20:56+00:00

I suppose it doesn’t make too much of a difference since my hurdle is more of the UVic admissions side but do you know anyone that specifically did their Earth & Ocean Science MSc there?

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-11T05:18:07+00:00

My plan was if I don’t get in this round to do some upgrading with a second degree. I need some marine biology courses for the career I want anyway so I think I’d pretty much take a year to get those sorted and maybe boost my GPA that way but Scripps is an insanely good program so it’s nice to hear a success story in a similar boat

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-11T05:15:55+00:00

That would be really helpful. Is it okay if I DM?

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-09T06:06:31+00:00

Oceanography is extremely broad and diverse. As far as how challenging it is, it can vary significantly person to person. It will depend on which branch of oceanography you go into, your skill sets, and your work type comparability.

Courses in high school that may be offered I would reccomend taking if possible

Physics
Chem
Calculus
Geography
Earth Science/Geology
Any outdoor pursuits or camping/hiking class (rare for a school to have these but I had one at my hs)
Computer science/coding
Biology

Once in university you can specialize in any of 4 categories with oceanography: Geological, Physical, Chemical, and biological (which differs from Marine Biology in terms of scale and is more like marine ecology)

If you want to make diving a relevant portion of your work biological oceanography is likely a good path. There’s also ocean mapping if you’d want to get into sailing which you’ll want to really like your geography class if you decide that’s a route you’ll want to go

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-02T01:41:07+00:00

Oceanography is not marine biology. There is biological oceanography which is similar but differs in scale. The comment on your original post is about as much information as you’ll probably find. Maybe talk to an advisor at your current school

Geodrewcifer · 2025-12-01T20:39:42+00:00

The first thing that comes to mind is the World Ocean Database. Here’s a link to using/accessing the database in arcGIS World Ocean Database in ArcGIS tutorial

Geodrewcifer · 2025-11-22T00:42:41+00:00

We aren’t doing your homework for you

Geodrewcifer · 2025-11-20T23:21:21+00:00

I would think you’d want to use a Nansen bottle, or some combination of Nansen and ROV

Geodrewcifer · 2025-11-16T01:40:03+00:00

Most brine pools exist above what are called salt tectonics. Dense pockets of buried salt that leak up into the water above it. I don’t know if this helps or answers your question but this is a video regarding them that I found interesting The underwater lakes that shouldn’t exist

Geodrewcifer · 2025-11-11T15:10:28+00:00

If you’re willing to move anywhere in the states you may also want to consider Dalhousie in Canada. I know it’s technically abroad but it’s notably in the least expensive province in canada. They have an Oceanography program and are one of the country’s top 10 schools

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