{"id":180924,"date":"2023-05-15T16:43:08","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T20:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/?p=180924"},"modified":"2023-05-15T16:47:47","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T20:47:47","slug":"online-m-o-degree-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/publications\/aboard-gso\/online-m-o-degree-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Online M.O. Degree Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Online M.O. Suits Busy, Industrious Professionals<\/h1><\/div><\/div>
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Apply site-wide<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n

By Alexander Castro<\/h4>\n
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\u201cSurfing the web\u201d<\/strong> may seem like a quaint phrase in 2023, but in the premillennial era, it spoke to a vastness shared between the oceanic and the online. Back then it was thrilling that the internet couldn\u2019t be exhausted. Today that prospect is more exhausting than exhilarating.<\/div>\n

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Thanks to GSO\u2019s newest program offering, however, a talented group of aspiring oceanographers is finding renewed purpose and excitement going online. The online Master of Oceanography (M.O.) degree program started two years ago, and the first cohort numbers about a dozen. They\u2019ll soon graduate without having stepped on the GSO campus for a single class, as this M.O. program is totally virtual.<\/p>\n

One student, Julian Race, has even been learning about the sea while sailing it: \u201cI\u2019m generally out on research vessels,\u201d the IT specialist explains. For a decade now he\u2019s been helping to \u201ckeep the science moving\u201d in his day job, working on vessels like the E\/V Nautilus as a data engineer. <\/p>\n

Now Race is also working to complete the 30 credits required for the online M.O. He\u2019s taken several classes at sea, even while working with the United States Antarctic Program in especially chilly waters.

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Julian Race at work aboard E\/V Nautilus.<\/em> Photo courtesy of Ocean Exploration Trust.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

This M.O. includes content from the \u2018core\u2019 disciplines of oceanography: biology, chemistry, geology and physical oceanography. Students take at least three of these fundamental classes and an additional five electives, which range from seafloor mapping and scientific writing to ocean resilience and MATLAB modeling. The program is divided into intensive, seven-week sessions. <\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s the] first fully online Masters of Oceanography program,\u201d says Arthur Spivack, the program\u2019s coordinator and a Professor of Oceanography. \u201cGSO\u2019s core mission is graduate education through research\u2026This is a way for the knowledge that we generate to more easily get outside of the ivory tower.\u201d<\/p>\n

He oversaw the online M.O.\u2019s creation with a committee of faculty members as well as the folks at URI Online, who helped refine the virtual pedagogy. (Spivack also thanks GSO professor Martha McConnell for her crucial help.) <\/p>\n

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\u201cEveryone comes in highly motivated; We\u2019re just helping them pursue their interests and achieve their goals.\u201d<\/blockquote>Arthur Spivack, Professor of Oceanography, GSO<\/cite><\/div><\/section>\n

For Spivack, it\u2019s been \u201cone of the most academically satisfying experiences\u201d in his career: \u201cEveryone comes in highly motivated; We\u2019re just helping them pursue their interests and achieve their goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cohort has many interests indeed, and its \u201ccuriosity-driven knowledge seekers,\u201d Spivack notes, include \u201ccomputer scientists, environmental scientists, a medical doctor, lawyers\u2026 and CEOs.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019d be a nightmare lining up schedules as varied as that, so the program is asynchronous. Students have work to complete each week, but they can do so at their own pace.<\/p>\n

That flexibility was paramount for Gabriela Espino, who is currently active military and working \u201c12-hour shifts\u201d at the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are days I can\u2019t really work on the course but you have all week to finish up [your assignments],\u201d Espino says. <\/p>\n

More permissive timing doesn\u2019t mean the classes are a cakewalk, however. Student Sarah Gribbin, who currently teaches chemistry at a \u201cmaritime focused\u201d technical school, was looking for a \u201cmore rigorous\u201d ocean science program to deepen her own teaching efforts.<\/p>\n

But Gribbin didn\u2019t want to sacrifice her job: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have been able to take a sabbat\u00adical. I\u2019d have to step away completely from teaching, and I wasn\u2019t interested in doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She found the best of both worlds with online M.O. courses. They can mold to her schedule, but they aren\u2019t watered down either. <\/p>\n

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Online M.O. student, Sarah Gribbin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve take online courses in the past,\u201d Gribbin says. \u201cBut a lot of the work was \u2018Here\u2019s a textbook chapter. Read it. And take a quiz on it.\u2019\u201d Some weeks Gribbin would immerse herself, but others she\u2019d \u201cjust search for the answers\u2026[I was] looking for something more challenging,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

Professor Melissa Omand\u2019s physical oceanography course, also praised by Race, was one such tribulation. \u201cIt was a hard class, which I like,\u201d Gribbin says. <\/p>\n

Espino echoes her peers\u2019 praise, and adds in her appreciation for the discursive aspect of the online courses. Discussion is always lively on the class forums, and she\u2019s happy to bring her unique experience into the conversation. <\/p>\n

Espino transitions out of the military this summer, and she\u2019s seeking a career change to (you guessed it) oceanographer. Powered by an activist spirit, she\u2019s hoping to work with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). <\/p>\n

She\u2019s eager to enter the field in a time of ecological urgency: \u201cWhen I studied a decade ago at the Naval Academy\u2026[if] you brought up climate change, people kind of rolled their eyes, like, \u2018Oh\u2026you\u2019re one of those.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The hecklers have quieted down in recent years. The evidence for a damaged earth has become quite visible, especially in Espino\u2019s home state of Hawaii.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy local beach here is eroding,\u201d Espino says. \u201cOur trees are falling into the ocean and houses are falling in.\u201d<\/p>\n

While climate change has become more blatant, that\u2019s not to say people\u2019s treatment of the sea has shifted. Espino points out that seabeds aren\u2019t just sites of oceanographic interest. Less wholesome but feverishly interested in the ocean floor are producers of commodities like batteries, which has led to a present-day gold rush in the deep. <\/p>\n

Espino explains: \u201cThere\u2019s a huge race going on, especially out here in Hawaii, to gather underwater material off seabeds\u2026It\u2019s kind of scary because you\u2019re like, \u2018Wait a second\u2026What countries are mining the seabed? And how is it affecting our oceans?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Less nefarious international business is being conduced underwater, too. It\u2019s public if somewhat obscure knowledge that the sea is home to submarine cables that power much of the internet we use today. The largest, Meta\u2019s 2Africa, measures 45,000 kilometers and is expected to be completed in 2024, improving connectivity for about three billion people.<\/p>\n

Talk about a literal take on \u201csurfing the web.\u201d This massive undersea network spans all continents and might carry the whole of human knowledge in one form or another. Somewhere along these leviathans of data, a GSO student\u2019s homework is being uploaded. Somewhere else, an aspiring oceanographer is sending in their application.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alexander Castro \u201cSurfing the web\u201d may seem like a quaint phrase in 2023, but in the premillennial era, it spoke to a vastness shared between the oceanic and the online. Back then it was thrilling that the internet couldn\u2019t be exhausted. Today that prospect is more exhausting than exhilarating. Thanks to GSO\u2019s newest program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,1987],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aboard-gso","category-publications"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180924"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189265,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180924\/revisions\/189265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}