GSO isn’t just for graduate students.
Our wide range of undergraduate course offerings covers everything from ocean exploration and volcanoes to marine pollution, astrobiology, and climate change. Undergraduates may choose a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Geology and Geological Oceanography or in Physics and Physical Oceanography. A minor in Oceanography is also available. Undergraduates can even stay at URI for a fifth year to earn a Master of Oceanography (M.O.) along with their bachelor’s degree.
Our world-class faculty and researchers mentor undergraduates through laboratory- and ship-based independent study courses and serve as for-credit internship sponsors. In addition, many undergraduates find work opportunities each semester and summer in Narragansett Bay Campus laboratories and offices.
Each year GSO scientists, coastal managers, or outreach professionals host undergraduate students as part of URI’s eight-month Coastal Fellows Program, tackling marine and environmental issues through a vertically integrated, multigenerational team approach. Undergraduates from other institutions may apply for a 10-week Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Oceanography (SURFO) affording them opportunities to directly participate in basic research.
Undergraduate Oceanography Programs
Minor in Oceanography
The 18-credit minor in oceanography is available to students interested in scientific understanding of the ocean, including its role in controlling the environment in which we live, its usefulness as a resource, and the importance of marine area protection and sustainability. This minor is open to all students regardless of their major. Required Courses Worksheet).
Undergraduate Oceanography Courses
For non-science majors
- OCG110 The Ocean Planet
- OCG123 Oceans, Atmosphere & Global Change
- OCG 131 Volcanoes & the Environment
- OCG 200 Extreme Weather
For science and engineering majors
- OCG 420 Deep-Sea Biology
- OCG 401 General Oceanography
- OCG 451 Oceanographic Sciences
- OCG 480 Introduction to Marine Pollution
Undergraduate students can receive research experience credit at the Graduate School of Oceanography through OCG 491 and OCG 493/4. Lean more about these and other courses at the URI Course Catalog.
Related Majors
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship in Oceanography (SURFO) is a 10-week program designed primarily for science, math and engineering students who will have just completed their junior year of undergraduate coursework.
Job Opportunities at the Bay Campus
Undergraduates interested in employment, intern, volunteer opportunities, as well as for-credit internships to assist with a wide variety of research, education, outreach, development, engagement, and administrative projects and activities based at the URI Narragansett Bay Campus should submit an “Expression of Interest Form” and résumé. Students of all majors are welcome — marine biology, natural sciences, engineering, marine affairs, environmental economics, journalism/communications, film studies/digital art, computer science, business, etc.