About the School of Oceanography
R/V Thompson 2009 off New Zealand
photo by K. Newell
The School of Oceanography fosters continued advancement of the ocean sciences, solutions to problems of societal relevance, and public awareness of the marine environment. It is at the forefront of creating knowledge and understanding about the ocean through observation, theory, modeling and technological innovation. The School focuses on learning and discovery, equipping students with knowledge and insights, scholarly methods, scientific tools and communication skills.
We offer degrees of: Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, PhD
Our Director is Dr. Russell McDuff, Professor of Marine Geology and Geophysics.
There are currently 66 faculty. An additional 34 affiliate faculty, mainly drawn from the UW Applied Physics Laboratory and NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, are also active in graduate advising.
The School offers outstanding educational opportunities. Eighty-five graduate students are in residence working within four areas of specialization (biological, chemical, physical, and marine geology and geophysics) and on a variety of interdisciplinary topics (climate change, extreme environments, and coastal systems). The School is the only leading oceanography program to offer a bachelors degree, with 73 undergraduate students enrolled for Autumn 2009.