Foundations of Marine Biology

The ocean covers 2/3 of our planet’s surface and represents 99% of livable habitat. It’s home to hundreds of thousands of species—and that’s just the ones we know about so far! As a vital source of food, climate regulation, and commerce, what happens to the ocean has a massive impact on humans. This 3-unit course will introduce you to the fundamentals of marine biology, including the challenges facing life in water, an overview of key habitats, and a survey of marine biodiversity. Throughout it all, we will focus on how scientists study these systems.

Unit 1: Introduction and Fundamentals of Marine Biology focuses on preparing you for your future studies of marine systems. It will include brief introductions to marine chemistry, oceanography, the physical environment of the ocean, and how life in the ocean faces different challenges than the land-based life you may be more familiar with. It also includes a history of the field and how marine biology became a modern professional science. These fundamentals are vital for learners to understand future discussions of habitats and biodiversity.

Unit 2: Marine and Coastal Habitats introduces learners to the wide variety of different types of habitats found in the ocean. The ocean isn’t all beaches and coral reefs; there are many distinct types of habitats, each with their own physical features, each representing their own challenges and opportunities for marine life. Tools used by scientists to access and study these habitats will be discussed.

Unit 3: Marine Biodiversity introduces learners to the wide variety of organisms that live in our ocean. Most people know dolphins and coral reef fishes, but a thorough marine biology education requires an understanding of lesser known organisms like anemones and sponges and arrow crabs and salps. You’ll also learn how these organisms adapt to life in water, how they eat, move, and reproduce, and how they interact with each other. Tools used by scientists to study each group of organisms will be discussed throughout. By the end of all three units, learners will be able to take an unknown marine organism and be able to deduce information about its biology and ecology.

Learn at your own pace (see Online Course Format Chart below for details).

Spring 2027: The first 5 weeks of each unit include instructor support.

Unit 1: January 19 - May 2, 2027

Unit 2: Feb 21 - June 6, 2027.

Unit 3: March 28 - July 11, 2027.

Early bird discount of $75 on Standard, $85 on Premium ends December 20, 2026.

This is a 3-credit course, consisting of three 1-credit units that may be taken together or individually. You may register for 1, 2, or all 3 units. Select the units during registration.

Each unit has 5 weeks of self-paced instruction with instructor support. After the 5-week period ends, learners have access to material on Canvas for an additional 10 weeks.

This course has no specific prerequisites but assumes a basic knowledge of life science and chemistry. It is broken into three units that are recommended to be taken in sequence.

Unit 1: Introduction and Fundamentals of Marine Biology

• Describe some challenges of living in water and of humans studying life in the ocean

• Describe basic principles behind different strategies for adapting to life in water

• Discuss the definition of marine biology and of the fields of science that it overlaps with and describe the principles that make it a distinct field of science

• Apply your understanding of the challenges of studying life in the ocean to experimental design

• Analyze experimental designs and create your own

Unit 2: Marine and Coastal Habitats

• Describe and compare different types of marine habitats and where they can be found

• Describe and compare nearshore and shallow habitat types

• Describe and compare offshore and deeper water habitat types

• Apply that knowledge to determine specific challenges facing life in these types of habitats.

• Analyze research approaches for studying life in these systems, and create your own research plan

Unit 3: Marine Biodiversity

• Describe and compare key principles of marine biodiversity and ecology

• Describe and compare different major groups of marine invertebrates and vertebrates

• Apply that knowledge to determine specific challenges facing life from these groups and how they’ve overcome those challenges

• Analyze research plans for studying these animals and create your own.