The University of Southern Mississippi's
Department of Marine
Science is home to a multidisciplinary program
of graduate study and research in marine environments.
Located
at Stennis Space Center, Southern Miss Department
of Marine Science is strategically situated
at the single largest concentration of oceanographers
and hydrographers in the world.
Twelve on-site faculty members hail from the
world's most prestigious oceanographic research
institutions, including Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, and premier
oceanographic programs at the University of
Rhode Island, the University of Hawaii, Texas
A&M University, and the University of New
Brunswick.
Subfields of Marine Science taught at the Department
of Marine Science include biological oceanography,
marine chemistry, geological oceanography, physical
oceanography, bio-optics, remote sensing, numerical
modeling, and underwater acoustics.
The talented faculty at Southern Miss' Department
of Marine Science has proven competitive on
a national scale in obtaining research funds,
allowing faculty members to participate in a
variety of national and international projects.
For example, a DMS faculty member is involved
in a major research project supported by the
National Science Foundation to establish a Polar
Region Interactive Marine Observatory (PRIMO)
in the Antarctic near Palmer Station, that will
provide a continuous record of critical changes
in this delicate ecosystem related to climate. DMS faculty includes a past winner of the American
Meteorological Society's H. U. Sverdrup Gold
Medal and a recent recipient of a U.S. Department
of Interior Appreciation Award.
Southern Miss has become the only institution
in the United States to offer a one-year master's
degree in hydrographic science. A collaboration with the U.S. Navy has resulted
in a hydrographic science curriculum that was
approved at the category A level in April 2000
by the International Federation of Surveyors
(FIG)/International Hydrographic Organization
(IHO) Advisory Board on Standards of Competence
for Hydrographic Surveyors. Designed to meet the needs of the U.S. Navy
and NOAA, the Master of Science degree in Hydrographic
Science is a non-thesis program that can be
completed in a rigorous 12 months of classroom
and practical activities. Approximately 5.5
percent of all Naval Oceanographic Office employees
at Stennis Space Center are either graduates
or current students of the USM Department of
Marine Science.
Created to develop and broaden ocean charting
and navigation technology, the Hydrographic
Science Research Center (HSRC) is
part of the Department of Marine Science within
the College of Science and Technology and is
housed at the Stennis Space Center campus.
The Southern Miss Center
for Trace Analysis (CETA) coordinates
analytical services provided by the USM Department
of Marine Science. Most specifically, this means
trace element analysis using the department's
high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass
spectrometer (HR-ICP-MS). CETA's ultimate mission
is to provide state-of-the-art expertise, training,
analytical services, and research in trace chemical
analysis.
Located
at Stennis Space Center, Southern Miss Department
of Marine Science is strategically situated
at the single largest concentration of oceanographers
and hydrographers in the world.