Environmental Ocean Sciences

What makes Millersville Environmental Ocean Sciences Special?

Curriculum

Ocean Science Facilities

Over the last two decades, Millersville Earth Sciences has built a unique facility for teaching and research in oceanography among universities in Pennsylvania. A dedicated oceanography laboratory is used for teaching our various environmental ocean science courses.  Recently, we added a new hydrodynamics laboratory equipped with a 25-ft wave tank for study of surface wave phenomena, a rotating tank to demonstrate geophysical fluid concepts, and an Emriver platform to model sediment dynamics of coastlines. Our state-of-the-art field equipment includes a two Conductivity Temperature-Depth profilers (with one of them fitted with a backscattering, Li-Cor, fluorescence and oxygen sensors), an acoustic current meter, a portable weather station, and a Seabird tide/wave gauge.

We are proud to be the founding member of The Marine Science Consortium / Chincoteague Bay Field Station (CBFS), located on the beautiful Virginia coast and boasts direct boat access to the Atlantic Ocean, and adjacent waters of Chincoteague and Assateague coastal waters. The CBFS is owned and operated by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and attracts students of all ages from the surrounding mid-Atlantic region. CBFS research vessels are used by EEOS faculty and students for the exploration and study of coastal and estuarine waters, while a variety of smaller boats, canoes and kayaks allow easy access to and study of near-shore shallow-water environments . The EEOS program includes weekend and summer study at the CBFS providing MU students with invaluable hands-on experience. 

Research, Activities, & News

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                                      EEOS Students present at OCEAN SCIENCES MEETING

Oceanography students Mike Miller, Samantha Reynolds, Somer Barrett, Emily Stauder, Kortlin Yetter, and Zach Hersch (from left to right) presented their research at the Ocean Sciences Meeting 2024 in New Orleans in February. Professors Robert Vaillancourt (left) and Ajoy Kumar (right) accompanied them.