Bachelor of Science (Marine Science)

The USP's Bachelor of Science in Marine Science differs from USP's Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Marine Management as it offers students a more specialized education in the discipline. Like the BA, it consists of three years of education.

Courses

Year 1

1. UU100 - Communications and Information Literacy: The aim of this course is to ensure that all incoming students develop knowledge and competence in the use of computers and information resources.
2. UU114 - English for Academic Purposes.
3. MS101 - Introduction to Marine Resources Management: This course stresses the importance of managing marine resources wisely if the people are to benefit from these new opportunities. Students will learn about resource management by looking at national policies, law, regional cooperation, international treaties and conventions.
4. MS111 - Introduction to Marine Science for Pacific Islands: The course provides an interesting introduction to the principles and application of marine science, including physical, biological and chemical processes, living and non-living resources, human uses and impacts, and environmental management and sustainable development.
5. BI108 - Animal Biology: This course introduces students to the diversity, functional morphology, and evolution of the major groups of animals, and protozoans.
6. CH101 - Chemical Principles: This course aims to impart adequate knowledge with factual, theoretical and experimental background concerning introductory general chemistry.
7. ES106 - Earth Science: This course provides a broad introduction to the principles of physical geology, and their application in the exploration and development of natural resources.
8. ST130 - Basic Statistics: This is a service course designed to introduce students to statistics as a methodology for the collection, summarisation and interpretation of data.

Year 2

1. UU200 - Ethics and Governance: This generic course offers an exploratory and interdisciplinary insight into ethics and the ethics of governance. he theoretical framework is then used to delve into the fascinating and controversial field of 'applied ethics', ranging through the law, corporate and workplace ethics, social justice issues and controversial ethical dilemmas.
2. UU204 - Pacific Worlds: In this course you will be introduced to the places, histories, cultures, arts, and politics of Oceania.
3. MS202 - Invertebrate Biology: This course involves the study of invertebrate classification, identification, anatomy, functional biology and evolutionary adaptation to environmental change.
4. BI206 - Quantitative Biology: This course is designed to give all students intending to major in biology a knowledge of data collection and exploratory data analysis, graphical representation of data, experimental design, hypothesis testing and the use of a range of statistical tests.
5. MS204 - Tropical Seafood: This course provides a general introduction to seafood in Pacific Island Countries. Seafood resources, nutrition, spoilage, poisoning, handling, processing (both traditional and modern), preservation and quality assurance are examined. Regional and global seafood quality issues are examined in some detail and students are expected to design their own seafood business using economic engineering principles. The emphasis will be on field-trips and assignments rather than on laboratory classes.
6. MS206 - Maritime Skills and Techniques: This course provides students intending to work in fisheries and marine science in the South Pacific with a basic competence in small boat operations, safety at sea, position finding, navigation and pilot age. This skills-based course is set in an academic framework of geography, cartography, meteorology and oceanography; students are introduced to a range of sampling techniques, including echo-sounders, global positioning system, salinity and temperatures profiling, plankton nets, fishing methods, grabs, corers and in-water sampling techniques. Students will spend 4 weeks on industrial attachment to practice some of these skills.
7. MS211 - Marine Geology Sedimentology: This course is about the rocks and sediments in the ocean basins, their distribution, composition and history. This course is geared towards understanding near shore processes and sedimentation, while aspects of marine geology addressed in this course include ocean circulation, plate tectonics, sea-level history, skeletal microplankton, geochemistry as tool for paleo-climatology, and critical events in global palaeo-oceanography.
8. MS213 - Physical Oceanography: The course explores the physical forces that act in the oceans and describes the response of ocean water to these forces. The course covers the physical properties of seawater and the application of physical laws to oceanography, heat transfer, ocean currents, waves and tides. The course emphasises the relationship of physical oceanography with ocean ecology.

Year 3

1. SC356 - Research Skills: The first part of the course will provide students with an overview of the research processes. Experimental design, sampling, data collection and analysis will be introduced. The second part of the course will focus on a seven-week supervised research project with appropriate reporting from the students.
2. MS307 - Fish and Fisheries Biology: This course is designed to teach components of fish biology, population dynamics and management. Topics include fish classification, anatomy, bioenergetics, physiology and aspects of their ecology. Basic principles of aquaculture and their application to Pacific Island countries are discussed and aspects of fish population dynamics are covered such as stock abundance, age, growth, recruitment, yield and mortality. Both traditional and conventional fishing methods, management strategies and regulations are examined.
3. MS306 - Coral Reef Ecology and Management: This course examines the origins of coral reefs (reef types and formation); the biology of corals and other reef organisms (taxonomy, feeding, growth and reproduction); ecosystem structure and function (particularly coral/zooxanthellae, coral/algae, and predator/prey relationships); biodiversity values (significant and threatened species); human uses and values (especially fisheries); major issues (especially coral bleaching, terrestrial run-off, and effects of fishing); and environmental management and sustainable use of reef resources.
4. MS312 - Marine Pollution: This course provides an introduction to the basic science of pollution in the sea.
5. MS315 - Marine Spatial Planning: This course introduces students to the principles and practice of planning for sustainable marine and coastal management, particularly in the Pacific context. The course aims to provide a good understanding of the policy and regulatory framework, and tools for planning and management. It considers the ways that planning can prepare and manage for change to ensure sustainable futures and specifically, the need to promote balance between social and economic development and the protection of the marine and coastal environment.
6. MS313 - Seafood Science: This course introduces students to the concept of fish and other marine organisms as food. The scientific and technological aspects of seafood spoilage, poisoning, handling, processing, preservation methods and quality assurance are examined.
7. Two free-choice courses

• 1st: choice between MS324 - Aquaculture in Pacific Island Countries and MS314 - Tuna Fisheries of the South Pacific
• 2nd: choice between MS308 - Environmental and Marine Microbiology, MS305 - Marine Biology and EV301 - Environmental Impact Assessment.