Hey, I’m a high school senior applying for colleges with hopes of becoming a marine biologist. I’m unsure of which major to choose. It seems that marine biology programs are rare, but I’m seeing a lot of marine/environmental science and regular biology. Will I still have success as a marine biologist if I don’t specifically major in marine bio? Need some help clearing this up. Thanks
Yes, you can get an undergrad major in Bio and do grad school in Marine, but many also opt to go to schools like Eckerd and major in Marine Science, focusing on Bio. Students like to get hands on early, and schools like Eckerd provide that option.
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As an example path, the marine biologist in this profile majored in general biology as an undergraduate: Emma Taccardi - Maine Sea Grant - University of Maine.
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Regarding general biology programs or departments, you may want to check whether there are courses and faculty in marine biology in those programs or departments.
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I don’t think Marine Biology programs are that rare, but they may be rare in non-coastal states. Helps to be in a coastal area, but there are a few out there that are in places like Ohio.
You say you’re a senior? What colleges have you applied to? Any acceptances yet? Maybe someone here can advise on your choices.
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The person that I knew the best had a dual major in Integrative Biology and Earth and Planetary Sciences. If you want to be a researcher, solid fundamentals are important. Both in biology and chemistry.
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Look at the course offerings where you have applied, or are planning to apply, to see what may be of interest. State Land Grant/Sea Grant universities will have bio and natural resource management programs tied to their state agencies like DNR and will have federal grants supporting research.
Final Due dates for some colleges are coming up. Look at College of Charleston and UNH for some great marine bio opportunities for undergrads.
There are also summer course options that are open to students from other colleges. Woods Hole MBL (related to UChicago), Duke Marine lab, and Isle of Shoals (Cornell and UNH).
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Yeah, I’ve been accepted to Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University so far. VT has regular bio and ODU has bio with a concentration in marine bio I believe.
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Thanks, looking into your suggestions.
If you can afford Eckerd (run the NPC), I don’t think it’s too late to apply. I just looked and didn’t see an application deadline for rolling admissions. I wouldn’t wait long though.
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Added to the list, thanks
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Great - At VT, look at the majors in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. These programs will prepare you for an entry level job with a state agency or a masters degree in Marine Bio or related field in grad school. VT is more respected in this field than ODU, but there are great opportunities at ODU as well.
Examples -
Fisheries
Wildlife Conservation
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This is a list of the 82 schools that list a major in either marine biology or marine science at the Bachelor’s degree level (at schools that offer housing):
- Coastal Carolina (SC)
- U. of North Carolina - Wilmington
- U. of Tampa (FL)
Above are three other programs with very popular marine biology majors. There are also other schools (like U. of New Haven in CT or Roger Williams in RI) that also offer a good number of marine bio majors as well.
If you’re still looking for more schools to apply to right now, let us know what you’re interested in and what your budget is, and we’ll do our best to help.
ETA: At Old Dominion, these are several majors that might interest you:
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The learning never stops for many Marine Biologists: they continue learning till they are researching the cutting edge of knowledge in the field. Research is a team effort, so there are job opportunities at all levels: from introductory positions assisting with data collection to being faculty leading your own lab at a research university like the UW.
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If you pick a school for Marine Bio, be sure to ask where recent grads have gone. You probably have to ask the department, not admissions. If you like what you see, you should be able to do well there if you do your part. If not, I’d keep looking. Some schools seem to simply do better getting their graduates jobs or into grad schools with this major.
You can do the same with VT or ODU, of course. Just make a note to yourself that many students with a Bio major don’t necessarily want your track, so it’s ok if there’s only a couple who go on doing what you’d like to do vs several. If there are none in the past few years, it would still be a caution flag for me.
ps VT alum here and really enjoyed the school(!), but not a Bio major (Physics/Psychology).
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It’s late January, so if you’re a high school senior, then you already sent out your applications, so you’ll have to look at where you get accepted, and what majors you could do at those specific schools. If you are interested in marine biology, look into summer programs at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and the Marine Biological Labs (now affiliated with U Chicago). Also National Fisheries in Woods Hole. But make sure that the program comes with housing or that you have someplace to crash there - housing in the summer is extremely difficult to find.
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