Wallops Island Field Program

Marine Science Program

Dr. Michael A. Arthur
Department of Geosciences
538 Deike Building
Penn State University
University Park, PA 16802
814-863-6054

Mosquitos as big as hummingbirds buzzing round your head, stinking muck up to your knees, hot sun beating on your back, nearly sleepless nights spent puzzling over new data—this is the Wallops Marine Science Program. Fun? You bet. Challenging? Absolutely! Rewarding?

Ask the more than 900 Penn State undergraduates who have participated since the first Penn State marine science courses were offered at Wallops in Spring, 1972. Each year during intercession a number of Penn State undergraduates and faculty will migrate to Wallops, Virginia to undertake six credits of coastal marine science.

The Wallops marine program consists of two fully integrated 3-credit courses: Biology 482 (Coastal Biology) and Geosciences 445 (Coastal Geology) taught concurrently. Drs. Charles Bursey, Al Guber and I are the faculty. Dr. Bursey offers the coastal biology course, while Dr. Guber will continue to impart his wisdom to students in the coastal geology course.

As in past years, the two courses will intertwine with many of the laboratory projects and field exercises serving both courses. In addition, an ambitious group research project is undertaken each week. The entire group plans the projects and gathers necessary data, but each student independently interprets the results and submits a written report. The program requires considerable laboratory work and writing, and is, therefore, time intensive (12-15 hour days)--students have little free time to bask in the sun. No examinations are given; grades are based on written reports and faculty evaluation of performance in the field and laboratory and during lecture-discussion sessions.

Who can or should participate in this program? We encourage applications from all majors, and an effort is made to ensure a diversity of majors in the program. Although there are no stated course prerequisites, students with a solid foundation in biology, chemistry, math and physics will find the program very rewarding.; chemistry and trigonometry are most often applied. Many participants will have taken at least Biology 110, whereas we assume no geology background. The Wallops Marine Science Program is the centerpiece of the Marine Science Minor at Penn State and it (or its equivalent) is required for all students wishing to graduate with that minor. Admission to the Wallops Program is quite competitive and fourth-semester standing is required prior to application.

The Wallops Program is held on the facilities of the Marine Science Consortium, an affiliation of about 15 colleges and universities of which Penn State is a member. The Consortium is located on the Atlantic Coast of Virginia with nearly instant access to outstanding natural laboratories in diverse habitats associated with barrier islands, bays, and marshes. The Wallops facility is on the west side of Chincoteague Bay across from Assateague and Chincoteague Islands. The facilities include 3 research vessels, a plethora of oceanographic field equipment, and laboratory classrooms equipped with aquaria, analytical instruments and computers. Dormitory living and cafeteria-style meals provide spartan but adequate living arrangements for participants.

The value of the Wallops program resides in its being a stimulating educational experience for the environmentally oriented student as well as a pre-professional training ground for those interested in the marine sciences and related areas. It provides students with the opportunity to define and solve problems and to frame and test hypotheses--an opportunity usually not available to most Penn State undergraduates.

Most of those in the program have had no prior exposure to research and have had little sense of their own capabilities. Many—much to their surprise—find that their capabilities are limited only by time and their capacity to work hard. Many appetites for continued research have been whetted at Wallops, and both students and faculty have found that education in the laboratory sciences can be a fun-filled and mutually rewarding experience. Thus, we seek only the most strongly motivated, enthusiastic and qualified students.