Oceansman

I have been under the (assumedly correct) notion for most of the 5 years it took to finish my BS in Marine Science that in order to get the research type positions or anything more then a technicians job (either in a windowless lab or at sea) you need a MS or PhD, but that many universities do not promote the MS program inlieu of PhDs now because in order to get a professorship or equivalent you need the doctorate. My interest is in hydrography, a relativeley small niche inide oceanography, though I am not sre yet if I am ready to take the plunge annd go to grad school for specifically hydrography or marine geology/oceanography instead. Currenty I am working as an abovementioned technician aboard a vessel offshore surveying the expansive New Jersey sandy (and thereby boring) seabed, and am going back to sea on Sunday.

I like the is global warming anthropogenic or not one as well as should science be funded by the government.

23/m/usa

Thanks, any input is wanted of course, my intent was not to only ask one person. OK, well a lot of that is more confirmation of what I had thought, which is fine. My gpa was irrecoverably hurt by freshman and sophmore years (science classes) and then I returned from a semester working aboard a research vessel and had near 3.0 semesters ever since. At one of the universities I am planning on applying to the professor who I would be working/studying under has known me for a couple of years now, initially I was an REU intern and then I worked for him last summer, so I think he would like me to study under him which can't hurt. The benefits of going ot the school I went to is that most or all of the marine science faculty would be willing (I am almost positive) to give me a recommendation (and I would want it to be sealed even without the input just given). Funding is not an immediate problem as I really want to go to work initially and then school after a few years, so I am not going to stress out about that at this point. Thanks all, Jeremy

Thanks Swansont, another question I have is that I have heard it is much tougher to get into the PhD programs directly then through Ms first then PhD. Would a sub 3.0 gpa make this unattainable without shelling out big bucks in loans? (I have heard that with a sub 3 you are denied first dibs at teacher and research assistantships even if your major advisor at the grad school really wants you to attend. Thanks, Jeremy

I am not entirely sure from reading these posts how many of you know how NOAA goes about collecting the data that is transmitted to the Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu. The data is collected from a series of relatively large buoys that are deployed around the N. Pacific. The buoys communicate with satellites to transmit the data they have back to Honolulu and the data is collected either by measuring the depth of the water underneath them and detecting when a potential Tsunami passes underneath or,(I am not sure which is accurate) the buoy and satellite know the distance between each at any given time and when a wave (potential tsunami) passes underneath the distance between the satellite and buoy decreases enough to set off the alert. This system cannot work quickly or accurately enough when an earthquake occurs outside of the area covered by the buoys, which is a reason why the SE Asian countries are going to be setting up a warning system themselves. I know most of this information through what I gleaned while working aboard a NOAA research vessel a couple of years ago as well as through my classes, reading the newstories that came out after the 12/26 and from reading the NOAA webpage whenever I remember to check the site for job possibilities. NOAA probably is at fault on one level, since they are the only current warning system for the Pacific region, but there is no way with current government budgetary restraints that NOAA could accurately predict tsunamis outside of their intended region. I do not work for NOAA currently and all of this information is from my memory, I will try and find sources to document it further. Jeremy

I recently graduated with a BS in Marine Science from a very "hands-on", small school and am planning on spending a few years in the workforce as a scientist operating hydrographic equipment. After these few years, I am planning on going to grad school for either a masters or a phd or both. One problem I have found is that there is a grand total of 3 Universities in the US & Canada that have hydrographic MSs and PhDs (Univ.New Hampshire, Univ. New Brunswick, Univ. Southern Mississippi). Should I pursue this focused a plan for a grad school? Would it be smarter to go directly for a PhD when I do return (or at least attempt to return) to academia? Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks, Jeremy

Well, I do not have a degree in anything very lucrative due to my needing a MS or PhD to get anwhere with Marine Science, but like a poster quoted earlier, Money isn't everything and having a rather good base of maritime industry knowledge and oceanographic instrument handling/usage know how is all I need. Besides, until I decide I want to get a PhD and teach, going to sea for 3-9 months of the year is right up my alley, as I cannot get enough of working on or near the ocean.

good call on the pressure and temp being what keeps the hydrates stable - I did know that, just blanked on it for some reason. I do believe that if the temperature of the overlying water above the sediment warmed sufficiently it might begin to destabilize, but if the ocean temperature was warming, that probably would go along with a higher sea level due to the ice caps melting faster, which would only lead to a different combination of p & t that would keep the methane hydrates stable, right?

Reading/looking at pictures in Jacques Cousteau's Calypso amongst other books of his (I pored over the images in this book when i was 4 apparently)

Depends on your GPA, but the Nat'l Science Foundation in the US has REU internships available, Research Experience for Undergrads, and Soph's are taken into the program - several universities offer these programs, go to http://www.nsf.gov and search for either "REU" or "Research Experience for Undergraduates". I got into it without a 3.0 gpa because I posessed experience working as a crew member aboard a research vessel the previous summer, so it is doable without a 3.0 as well.

a Mega-Tsunami from the Canaries is a possibility, rather strong one, though I disagree with this triggering Yellowstone. A mega-tsunami could also be triggered if the frozen methane hydrate deposits on the Atlantic Seaboard Continental shelf of the USA were to escape en masse from their current resting place and release into the atmosphere, which would cause global warming to speed up, but that is a different issue....

Hi, I'm Jeremy, recently graduated with a BS in Marine Sciences from Maine Maritime Academy. I am interested in all manner oif science, but am extremely interested in Hydrography, Marine Science/Oceanography (all disciplines) and geology - unfortunately, seems this site is rather lacking in a lot of those areas, but I am sure I will find enough to keep me occupied!

So here related to the plate techtonics theory - this last fall my Physics 2 professor on one of his frequent scientific asides mentioned that there is another theory that has caught on recently (a new theory I am almost certain) that comes at the motion of plates from anoither angle, does anyone know anything more about this?

Did anyone see an aurora's caused by this storm? Oh, and guess this is my first post as well