Program Overview

Oceanography - Graduate Certificate

Overview

The Oceanography Graduate Certificate is designed for graduate students who wish to pursue a specialization in oceanography while earning a normal graduate degree (MS or PhD) at CU Boulder or while taking coursework as a non-degree seeking student through Continuing Education's ACCESS Program.

Requirements

To obtain the graduate certificate in oceanography, students must complete at least three oceanography core courses with a letter grade of B or better. In addition, students may take an independent study course to replace one of the core courses.

Required Courses and Credit Hours

The following courses are required for the Oceanography Graduate Certificate:

• ATOC 5051: Introduction to Physical Oceanography
• ATOC 5060: Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Oceans
• ATOC 5061: Advanced Ocean Dynamics and Air-Sea Coupled ENSO Mechanisms
• ATOC 5200: Biogeochemical Oceanography
• ATOC 5300: The Global Carbon Cycle
• ATOC 5730: Physical Oceanography and Climate
• ASTR/ATOC 5400: Introduction to Fluid Dynamics
• ASTR 5410: Fluid Instabilities, Waves, and Turbulence
• GEOL 5270: Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry
• GEOL 5430: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology

Tracks

Several sample tracks are available to satisfy the Certificate in Oceanography requirements, including:

• Astrophysical and planetary sciences student: ATOC 5051, ATOC 5060, ASTR 5400, and GEOL 5270
• Applied math hydrodynamicist: ATOC 5051, ASTR 5400, ATOC 5060, and ASTR 5410
• Aerospace engineer remote sensing of the ocean: ATOC 5051, ATOC 5730, and ATOC 5061
• Geology paleoceanographer: GEOL 5270, ATOC 5051, GEOL 5430, and ATOC 5061
• Ocean geographer: ATOC 5730, GEOL 5270, and ATOC 5051