Marine Science

About the Project:

The Marine Science First-Year Research Associateship at Eckerd College will be an active learning opportunity where students will be working closely with a faculty member on research projects. Students will be engaged in research throughout the course of their first year collecting data, analyzing and interpreting their results and eventually presenting their findings. Thus, this course will focus primarily on students doing science compared to more traditional courses that teach about science. Once a week all students in program will meet as a group with the faculty for discussions and updates on research projects. These meetings will give the entire research group a chance to exchange and develop ideas.

Previous Marine Science projects have included:
• Field studies and use of a catalog of dorsal fin markings to investigate social patterns in the bottlenose dolphin (field surveys and lab work with dolphin fin catalog)
• Hermit crab shell selection behavior: do crabs prefer shells that have been thickened by snails exposed to predators? (field surveys and laboratory experiments)
• Functional development of restored mangrove forests (field surveys and laboratory work)
• Lactate excretion in marine crustaceans during activity and exposure to low environmental oxygen (work in physiology lab)
• Mitochondrial DNA study of population structure in Gulf and Atlantic populations of the Gulf pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli (field collecting and work in genetics lab)
• Trace metal concentrations in Gulf of Mexico sediments following the Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill
• Timing, frequency and environmental impacts of extreme events (e.g., hurricanes) or land use change on sensitive coastal environments, as recorded in sediments (field and lab work)
• Microplastics in Tampa Bay: spatial and temporal variability (field collecting and lab work)

The First-Year Research Associate Program at Eckerd College honors academically outstanding students with awards of up to $1,000. The program also provides the opportunity, during the freshman year, for the award winners to work closely with a sponsor (faculty or administrative personnel) on a project of mutual interest. Associates might assist with research for faculty publication or new courses, conduct scientific experiments, work with creative artists, or develop projects related to any phase of the academic, cultural, and social life of the college. Scholars are selected on the basis of achievement in high school and on the creativity and depth of responses to items on this application.​

Online submission due no later than February 1, 2023.

Registration is no longer available because the registration deadline has passed.