Seminar in Marine Science, Taught in the Spring Semester

Instructor: Alan Shiller; 228-688-1178; Bldg 1020, Rm 149; alan.shiller@usm.edu

This course is designed to give students experience in the presentation of scientific results. Students choose their own presentation topic (must be marine and scientific) at the beginning of the semester and proceed through a series of short assignments emphasizing various aspects of scientific presentation.

Course grading: Grade is based on a) content and effectiveness of presentations (80%) and b) class participation including attendance at all departmental seminars (20%). (Regarding seminar attendance: some exception can be made for conflicts arising due to participation in field or laboratory experiments or required obligations from other courses; for part-time students, some exception can be made for work-related obligations.) There is no final exam.

This course is designed to provide students with expertise in the oral presentation of scientific results while also facilitating student interaction on topics of current interest. Students need to pick a presentation topic at the beginning of the semester and may use that topic for all of their presentations. The topic must be a scientific topic suitable for study in our department. One’s research is an acceptable topic; alternatively, you may focus on a specific topic (even one you’ve done a term paper on) or even just one paper from the literature. If you choose something you’ve worked on before, it is required that any presentation for this course (including abstracts) be significantly different than what you’ve done before. In other words, it is not acceptable to give a talk substantially similar to a talk you’ve given in another class or turn in an abstract or poster substantially similar to one you’ve done before. If your presentation involves a review of something from the literature, be sure to express things in your own terms, thereby avoiding the possibility of plagiarism.

Web Page Information: We will make simple web pages during the semester. To do this you will need an account on a computer that is available for web hosting. One such computer is USM’s "Ocean"; if you have a USM e-mail account (which all students should have), then you have an Ocean account. See David Sliman or call the USM Help Desk if you are unsure of you login and password.

If a student has a disability that qualifies under the Americans with Disabilities Act and requires accommodations, he/she should contact the Office of Support Services for information on appropriate policies and procedures: Southern Station Box 8586, Tel/TTY: 266-5024; Fax 266-6331.