Cornell University

About 70% of the planet’s surface consists of estuarine, coastal, and pelagic ocean environments. Students who choose the Concentration in Marine Biology will learn about the biology, evolution and ecology of organisms that inhabit these environments and the ecological processes linking them. Marine biology draws from a range of disciplines including organismal biology, marine microbiology, ocean biogeochemistry, and biological oceanography. These disciplines consider adaptation of marine organisms to their environment, their interactions with other organisms, and ultimately the consequences and feedbacks of these interactions upon the environment. Marine habitats are sensitive barometers to anthropogenic perturbations today and global climatic perturbations over evolutionary history.