Marine Zoology (Biol 430, 5 credits) Dr. M. Dethier
Marine Botany (Biol 445, 5 credits) Dr. E. Carrington
Research Apprenticeship in Benthic Marine Ecology (Biol 449, 6 credits) Drs. M. Dethier, K. Sebens

If you are interested in marine biology, here is a spring program for you! This trio of courses provides a broad overview of marine organisms (invertebrates, seaweeds, and seagrasses), habitats (rocky shores, sand and mud beaches, open water plankton, and some subtidal environments), and an opportunity to conduct independent research projects.

The Zoobot Quarter is worth 16 credits total (including 6 "Writing" credits at UW) and is designed for undergraduates with just basic coursework under their belts.  It is also ideal for beginning graduate students who want or need a background in  invertebrate zoology and marine botany. Students who take this program often call it "the best quarter of my undergraduate career"; they learn a lot, make great friends, take wonderful field trips, and get to know faculty and other researchers.  Many Zoobot students return to FHL another quarter to take one of the full-time research apprenticeships; students who have taken this approach uniformly recommend it to others.

Program Details

The Zoobot program runs for the entire 10 weeks of Spring Quarter, and is actually 3 integrated courses: Marine Zoology, Marine Botany, and a “mini” Research Apprenticeship in Benthic Marine Ecology. Students must enroll in all three courses concurrently.  Classes run all day (8:30 to 5:00 or so) Monday through Friday, plus Saturday mornings. The first 6-7 weeks are heavily weighted toward Marine Zoology and Marine Botany. We spend roughly 4 days a week learning about the morphology, evolution, and ecology of invertebrates and algae through lectures, laboratory study, and field trips to a variety of locations in the San Juan Islands. There are exams and lab practicals in these two courses, plus various written and oral assignments. We also perform community outreach and take a camping trip to the spectacular outer coast of Vancouver Island to study the rich and different exposed-coast flora and fauna. 

The 5th day per week plus Saturday mornings will be devoted to the apprenticeship, i.e. learning about marine benthic ecology, reading research papers, and planning your project.            

Most of the last 3 weeks will be devoted to these projects, which are conducted either individually or in small groups.  Each student explores some aspect of the ecology of invertebrates and/or algae, and the research is conducted in the laboratory and/or field. The final part of the apprenticeship involves writing up the research as a scientific paper, which the faculty edits and gives back for a rewrite, to get students into the process of scientific writing.

How to Apply

The class consists of up to 15 undergraduates, mostly juniors and seniors from UW, although we accept qualified students from any institution. We occasionally take graduate students or non-traditional students (e.g., high school teachers) who would benefit from the experience. Selection is based on grades (especially in science courses), the applicant’s statement of interest, and one letter of recommendation.  The only prerequisite is a year of basic college biology; we are used to teaching students with highly variable backgrounds.