Bahamas

	See 'We are Back' SanSal 2008   A course with a field trip to the Bahamian Field Station, San Salvador.
	??? Bahamas 2010 ???

Course Description: This course is designed to explore the interrelationships of marine organisms and their environment.

This course includes:

• Lecture  component - Spring Semester at Simmons College
• Field trip experience - 2 weeks at the The Gerace Research Centre - The College of the Bahamas - Centre for the Study of Archaeology, Biology, Geology, and Marine Science on San Salvador Island

Students will study a variety of topics in marine biology and ecology which will prepare them for the field component of the course.

A basic marine biology & ecology text will serve as the basis for discussion with additional reading assignments from other resources.

Students will also plan a short term research study that they will conduct on the island.

Students will explore the rich diversity of marine organisms and the relationships between animals and plants in the Sargassum, oceanic, coral reef, grass bed, rocky shore, tide pool, mud flat, sand beach, and mangrove communities.

The islands provide a unique opportunity to examine the ecological processes that govern isolated islands.

This field study will not only provide the opportunity to explore the open ocean and coral reefs (a number of boat trips) but will contribute to a better understanding of the delicate biological balance on isolated islands as well as man's overall impact on the earth.

 Bahamian Field Station

The Bahamian Field Station, which occupies the former US Naval Base on the island of San Salvador, has been in operation for twenty years as an educational and research institution.  The station is on the island of San Salvador, located 450 miles southeast of Fort Lauderdale, and is one of the eastern-most islands of the Bahamas archipelago. The island is approximately 5 miles wide by 10 miles long, and is surrounded by some of the most prolific fringing reefs in the Caribbean. The island is large enough to provide a variety of environments, yet small enough to allow easy access to them.

The Field Station is located on the north coast of San Salvador, on the harbor which Columbus described during his first landfall in the New World in 1492 as capable of "...holding all of the ships of Christendom...". The Field Station consists of 8 acres of buildings and grounds which provide separate housing for undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and researchers; a cafeteria serving three fully-prepared meals daily; 8  laboratory/classrooms; 2 large lecture rooms; a library and comparative specimen repository; a dark room; a wet lab with running sea water aquaria; several maintenance buildings; basketball and volleyball courts.

Course Information:

	Course Credit: TBP
		This course satisfies the requirements for an upper level elective for Biology majors.
	Term: TBP
	Field Trip Dates: TBP
	Total Cost: TBP
	Schedule of Payment:
	Tuition: TBP
	Program Cost: TBP
	Prerequisites: General Biology + Permission of the Instructor
	Requirements: Participants must be able to swim. Students will be snorkeling on fringing, patch and marginal reefs.
	Elementary and secondary school teachers that are interested in participating in the course should contact course instructor at the address below.

Interested ? For further information contact: Mary H. Owen, Ph.D. Biology Department Simmons College Boston, MA 02115-5898 617.521.2662 Mary Owen