Mission Statement

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Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, an even greater percentage of the volume of the biosphere, and the greatest diversity of life forms, are oceanic. We exploit our ocean economically, as a surface for transport of goods and people and as a resource of food, energy, and minerals.  We prospect the oceans for novel medicines, explore it for new insights into Earth, ocean, and atmospheric processes, and enjoy it as a locus for recreation and tourism. 

For generations, the capacity of ocean and coastal ecosystems to provide food for every nation and to dilute every chemical insult seemed infinite, and exhaustive exploitation of the ocean was the privilege of the global commons.  These views have changed.  Rapid depletion of fish stocks, spread of marine diseases, recurring coastal ‘dead zones’, frequent harmful algal blooms, and a host of other malaises challenge us to understand the dynamics of marine ecosystems and to arrest the degradation of the oceanic environment.  Changing climate and threat of sea-level rise add further imperatives to the need to study the ocean-land interface.

To understand marine ecosystems, we must understand many things, from the intimate biology of its benthic and pelagic species, to the interactions of individuals, populations, and species with one another and with their changing environment.  Yet this is not enough.  To this we must also add an understanding of how humans interact with marine ecosystems and how these interactions can and should be managed through policy and governance to achieve stewardship and a balance between conservation and exploitation. 

In this context, the Division of Marine Science and Conservation of the Nicholas School of the Environment focuses on

Education, research, and service to understand marine systems, including the human component, and to develop approaches for marine conservation and restoration.

Faculty in the Division study the biology of marine species, address global-scale marine issues, and use advanced technologies, analysis, and modeling that allow science and policy to be evaluated across space, time, and disciplines. Scientific endeavors highlight organisms and populations, ecosystems, and human affairs. The Division emphasizes acquisition of basic knowledge to understand and manage ecological systems. This emphasis includes scientific discovery and problem solving within the context of human interactions with the environment identified through physical, biological, and social science studies, and can be found throughout the teaching and research activities of the Division.