Coral Reef Biology                


Coral reefs are among the most diverse, unique and beautiful of ecosystems on the planet.  Alas, they are also quite vulnerable to various environmental assaults and most of the reefs on earth are in real jeopardy.  In order to gain a more robust understanding of reefs, this course has both a campus and a Caribbean component.  Students learn the taxonomy, identification and characteristics of the animals which live in coral reefs.  The off-campus component of the course takes place on the island of Grand Cayman.  Students  become certified scuba divers and participate in ongoing research.

cobalt              divetech            dock

We stayed at Cobalt Coast, a wonderful inn on the quiet northwest coast of Grand Cayman, right on the water and with the excellent Divetech on site as our dive operation.  Students were certified by the superb instructors at Divetech in two days and then we began our diving, attending to our buoyancy and the diversity of organisms of the coral reef.
getting certified   survey   turtle                                                      

Students read papers from the literature, participate in discussions, keep a scientific journal, and gather fish diversity data (click to view fish diversity data):

                                                                                                               

chess      hear the ocean    briefing