Marine Microplankton Ecology (OCN 626)
Department of Oceanography
University of Hawaii, Manoa
Fall Semester 2007

Matthew Church (mjchurch@hawaii.edu)

Grieg Steward (grieg@hawaii.edu)

Guest lecturers: 

Phil Boyd (University of Otago), 
Karen Selph (University of Hawaii),
David Karl (Univerity of Hawaii)

Course Description:
Marine Microplankton Ecology (Ocean 626) is a 4 credit, graduate level course required for students in the Biological Oceanography Division in the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii.  The course includes two lectures and one afternoon laboratory per week. Students are expected to attend all lectures and labs.  The course explores the crucial roles of marine microorganisms in maintaining Earth's habitability.  The course will cover fundamental concepts in biological oceanography, with special attention to the linkages between microbial ecology and biogeochemical cycles.  Topics covered during the weekly lectures and labs include bioenergetics; ecological stoichiometry; ocean cycles of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron; bottom up and top down control of microbial food webs; and application of molecular methods to assess microbial diversity and physiology.    

Grading and Assignments:

Grades will be given based on three criteria: 1) Regular attendance and participation in weekly lectures and laboratories; all students are expected to come to the laboratories having read the required reading material; 2) performance on both the mid-term and final exams; 3) performance on oral and written presentation about a microbially-relevant component of the Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT) program.  Grades will be weighted as follows: attendance and participation in lectures and labs (20%), mid-term and final exams (25% each), and written and oral presentations (15% each).

There are no required text books for the course; however, students will be assigned readings that include both primary literature and textbook chapters that the instructors feel are pertinent to the weekly themes.

The faculty do not keep assigned office hours; if you would like to meet with either the course instructors or visiting lecturers you should contact them by email or in person to set up a mutually convenient to meet. 

Some useful resources related to Marine Microplankton Ecology:

The University of Hawaii's Center Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (CMORE)

The Hawaii Ocean Time-series (HOT)

The Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS)

CARIACO (CARIACO)

The CMORE/Agouron Summer Course in Microbial Oceanography (Agouron)

Recent Satellite Images near Hawaii (OSU remote sensing)

Joint Genome Institute (DOE)

NCBI GenBank (NCBI)

CAMERA (CAMERA)

The weekly lectures will be held in the Marine Science Building classroom 307 from 9:00-10:15 AM.  The lectures will cover basic concepts in the connected disciplines of microbial ecology and biogeochemistry, and highlight contemporary areas of research in microbial oceanography.