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To study oceanography, visit your school’s career center or speak with a counselor, and gain a strong foundation in math and science. Comfort with boats, scuba diving, foreign languages, and computer proficiency are helpful. Oceanography includes biology, chemistry, and geology, and specialties include physical, biological, geological, and chemical oceanography. A bachelor’s degree can lead to entry-level positions, while a doctorate can lead to teaching or leading research programs.
Many colleges and universities offer degrees in oceanography at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. To find degree programs in oceanography, visit your current college’s high school or career advising center or speak with a school counselor. You can also find information about oceanography programs through ocean and marine institutes, government agencies, environmental groups, and other organizations involved in ocean research. Doing an internet search for oceanography programs is also a good starting point.
To help you gain acceptance into an oceanography degree program, aim to gain a good foundation in math and science. Participate in volunteer and study programs with ocean-related organizations. Taking every opportunity to learn about the ocean will help bolster your application to the oceanography degree program. It will also help you decide which area of oceanography you want to pursue.
Oceanographers often spend a lot of time working in the field. Being comfortable on a boat in the ocean, knowing how to scuba dive, and learning foreign languages can all be helpful in earning a degree in oceanography. Oceanographers also use computers in their research for modeling, simulations and other things, so having computer proficiency is helpful.
Oceanography is a multidisciplinary field that encompasses a variety of basic sciences such as biology, chemistry and geology. To become an oceanographer, you can earn a bachelor’s degree specifically in oceanography, or an undergraduate degree in mathematics or a more general science field, and then attend a graduate-level oceanography program. Graduate degrees are often – but not always – required to find work in the field of oceanography.
Specific courses for oceanography degrees differ between schools, but examples of classes you could take include ocean dynamics, deep-sea biology, mathematical modeling, and marine mammal research. Examples of different specialty programs in oceanography include biological oceanography, which is the study of marine life diversity and populations; and physical oceanography, which is the study of the physical properties and relationship of the ocean to the atmosphere. Other oceanography specialties include geological oceanography, which is the study of the ocean floor and its materials and formations. Chemical oceanography studies chemical compounds in ocean waters.
Once you have a degree in oceanography, the career you can work in will be guided by the level of your degree. If you have a bachelor’s degree, you can start in an entry-level position, such as an assistant on a research vessel or in a laboratory, and progress through on-the-job training. Persons with doctorates in oceanography can teach oceanography and related science programs at the university level or lead research programs in the fields of oceanography and marine science. Government agencies, environmental groups, marine museums and aquariums are just a few of the places that employ oceanographers in a variety of scientific specialties.
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