Summer educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at Skidaway Institute have included summer courses and internships. In the past, an eight-week intensive summer course in Coastal Oceanography and Marine Field Methods was offered, intended primarily for upper level undergraduate and entering graduate students in marine and environmental sciences. Team-taught by the Skidaway faculty, the course emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of marine science. Lectures in coastal oceanography and marine environmental science were combined with a variety of laboratory and field exercises. Laboratory studies provided hands-on experience with analytical methods used in a number of disciplines within coastal oceanography and marine environmental science. Field trips included work within the local saltmarsh environment (using the SERF boardwalk), an excursion to coastal barrier islands, and cruises in the Savannah River and offshore on the continental shelf on the R/V Savannah, Skidaway Institute's 92 ft research vessel. Other course units utilize saltmarsh mesocosms (the BERM facility) and a race-track flume.

Inquiries concerning summer courses and/or summer internship opportunities should be directed to:

Dr. Peter G. Verity
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography
10 Ocean Science Circle, Savannah, GA 31411

Housing is available for students on the Skidaway campus, and a limited number of scholarships have been available for students in the summer course and internship programs.

Summer internships for undergraduate and graduate students with Skidaway faculty have also been available through the support of the Skidaway Marine Science Foundation, the CIRE II and BIOMP programs, the Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary Program (NOAA), and from the individual research grants of Skidaway faculty.

Topics covered in prior summer course offerings:

Coastal physical oceanography: tides, wind-driven currents, estuarine dynamics and stratification

Coastal depositional environments: depositional processes in coastal and offshore areas

Biogeochemical processes and cycling in the coastal zone, including: organic matter sources and sinks; diagenesis; nutrient cycles in the sediments and water column; estuarine trace metal geochemistry

Origin and fate of anthropogenic compounds in the coastal region

Planktonic food webs: primary and secondary production; microbial food webs

Hands-on experience in field and laboratory methods has included: