At OIMB, students take courses that focus on experiential learning and cover marine life from tiny phytoplankton to whales and all the invertebrates and fish in between. Small classes with large field and lab components give students the opportunity to work closely with OIMB professors in an array of coastal habitats on our coast.
Check the course catalog to see all of our courses and see which ones are being taught in upcoming terms!
Explore Marine Biology Courses
UO students use “Duck Web” to register for classes at OIMB. The University of Oregon course catalog offers degree plans and a complete list of courses in the Department of Biology.
Students will need to send an application for the specific term at OIMB to determine schedules, dorm space, class supplies etc. These applications can be found at the Biology Department on the University of Oregon campus (77 Klamath Hall), at the OIMB campus, and online.
Non-UO students: Non-UO students may attend fall or spring term at OIMB without being formally admitted to the University by filling out a guest student application along with the fall or spring term application form. Guest student applications are not required for summer term. However, guest students must fill out a summer application.
Featured Courses
BI 474 Marine Ecology
Instructor: Aaron Galloway
Marine Ecology is an interdisciplinary field covering the interaction of organisms with each other and their environment. In this course, we approach the discipline by focusing on the strengths of our program’s unfettered access to the flora and fauna of the local shore, emphasizing concepts and practice of rocky intertidal community ecology. Each week, we will be in the field, getting wet, making observations, and learning how to link these observations to developing and testing hypotheses that connect to fundamental ecological theory.
BI 451 Invertebrate Zoology
Instructors: Richard Emlet and Maya Watts
Introduction to the diversity of marine invertebrates. What they look like, how they work, where they live, and their natural history and behavior. Lectures will introduce organisms, explain their form and function, and include current views of evolutionary origins and phylogenetic relationships. Field trips will explore animals in their natural habitats and laboratory sessions will allow careful study of living invertebrates, emphasizing form and function.
BI 455 Marine Birds and Mammals
Instructor: Doug Warrick
The Oregon coast has a diverse marine bird and mammal fauna and this course takes advantage of many opportunities to study the biology of the seabirds, seals, sea lions, and cetaceans of the region. Topics covered include systematics, ecology, social systems, morphology, evolution, and physiology. Extensive field trips including boat cruises offer opportunity to study the animals in their natural environment. Laboratory sessions use museum preparations and dissections of fresh specimens to study anatomical and physiological features. Students undertake group projects on nesting seabirds and give presentations about marine birds and mammals.