Alumni Perspectives
One of SoMAS’ paramount objectives is to educate and train students to become the next generation of marine and atmospheric scientists, environmental resource managers, and citizens who possess a fundamental grasp of environmental issues and the choices that society faces in handling these issues.
Undergraduate
The first undergraduate degree offered through SoMAS was a minor in marine sciences
established in 1988. In 1992, an Oceanography and Environmental Studies track was
established in the Multidisciplinary Studies undergraduate degree program. Also in
that year, the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) offered its first undergraduate
major, as the University’s Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres (ITPA)
was transferred to MSRC, bringing with it the Atmospheric Sciences/Meteorology BS
degree program. Over time, other undergraduate degree programs followed: a BA in Environmental
Studies (2001) and a BS in Marine Biology and a BS in Marine Vertebrate Biology (both
in 2005). The Environmental Studies major is designed for students anticipating a
non-science career but one with a strong environmental bent, e.g., environmental journalism.
The Marine Biology and Marine Vertebrate Biology degrees prepare students for a career
in the sciences or environmental management. In 2016, the Sustainability Studies program
became part of SoMAS, adding alumni with degrees in Sustainability Studies, Coastal
Environmental Sciences, Environmental Humanities, Ecosystems and Human Impact, and
Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning. Several students also graduate with a
minor in Geospatial Sciences offered at SoMAS.
Graduate
MSRC’s first graduate degree program, the Marine Environmental Studies Program (MESP),
was authorized in April 1970 and produced its first graduate in May 1971. The MESP
program was a Masters of Science program designed for practicing professionals and
recent college graduates with varied academic backgrounds. Its curriculum offered
a strongly interdisciplinary examination of the diverse factors affecting the marine
environment and was designed to prepare students for careers in the then-rapidly expanding
fields of coastal management, environmental monitoring and protection and resource
management. During the 1975-76 academic year, MSRC conducted an internal review of
the MESP program. As a result of this review, the program name was changed to “Marine
Environmental Sciences Program” and the program’s focus was shifted more towards hard
science, with somewhat less emphasis being given to management and specific environmental
problem-solving.
In April 1978, the Board of Trustees of the New York State Education Department approved MSRC’s Ph.D. program in coastal oceanography. The following September, the program was approved by New York Governor Hugh Carey. The Ph.D. program graduated its first two students in December, 1981.
In 2007, as MSRC was renamed the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, our graduate programs were re-titled to more properly reflect the unified educational experience within the school that is offered to both marine and atmospheric science students. At present, SoMAS offers both MS and Ph.D. degrees in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, with concentrations in either the marine or atmospheric sciences.
In 2010, SoMAS established an MA in Marine Conservation and Policy, which provides students with an understanding of contemporary marine conservation and policy issues and helps them develop the necessary skills to apply this knowledge in marine conservation positions that require advanced training and a broad skill-set, but are not research-based.
Since 1971, SoMAS programs have produced over 1000 graduates. The alumni profiles below highlight a few of our graduates.
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