The declining health of marine ecosystems is one of the most important contemporary issues in environmental science. A main goal of the term is to explore the physical and ecological features of coastal environments with a goal of understanding how natural and anthropogenic disturbances are impacting these systems. Fieldwork is an essential part of this program, and we will develop in-depth research projects in temperate and tropical coastal environments. Australia offers unique flora and fauna, geology, and marine systems, which have evolved over millions of years. Rivers, shorelines, intertidal areas, mangrove forests, and the Great Barrier Reef, will be the classrooms for the term.

The 2008 Marine Ecology seminar will use three primary sites. The first third of the program will be in a cool temperate site in Tasmania. The second site will be the temperate/tropical transition region near Brisbane. The final third of study will be at Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef, with visits to additional locations.

Twenty six student participants will be taught by Professor Camill and by local university instructors. Academic and logistical support is provided by Global Education Designs, an outstanding company specializing in program design and program support. Global has worked with Carleton programs in Australia since 1987.

FACULTY DIRECTOR

Phil Camill, Associate Professor of Biology Professor Camill is a global change ecologist with interests in how vegetation and nutrient cycles are altered by climate change and anthropogenic disturbances. He teaches courses in ecosystem ecology, plant physiological ecology, global change biology, and paleoecology, and he is a certified PADI Open Water SCUBA Instructor. Professor Camill supervises an active program of student research during the summer months in field sites as geographically diverse as Arctic tundra in Manitoba, Canada, to the prairies of southern Minnesota. He has extensive experience diving coral reefs around the world. Click here to visit the Biology Australia website, updated by Prof. Camill.