Minor Requirements

Overview

35 credits minimum
Core coursework (19 credits)
Approved electives (13 credits)
Integrative experience (3 credits, may not be used for student’s major requirements)
Minimum of 2.0 cumulative GPA in all minor coursework
Minimum 15 credits at the 300-400 level
At least 18 credits must be unique to the marine biology minor (i.e. may not overlap with student’s major requirements)
A maximum of 5 credits may overlap with requirements for another minor

Core Coursework (19 credits)

Approved Electives (13 credits)

Students must take at least 13 credits from the following approved electives lists, including at least 1 course from Oceanography, 1 course from Aquatic & Fishery Sciences, and 1 course from either Biology or Friday Harbor Labs. Additional marine biology courses may be petitioned to count

Oceanography

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
OCEAN 409	Marine Pollution	3	W
OCEAN 430	Biological Oceanography	4	A
OCEAN 431	Special Topics in Biological Oceanography	3	Sp
OCEAN 454	Hydrothermal Systems: An Interdisciplinary View	3	W
OCEAN 481	Puget Sound & Estuarine Oceanography	3	W
OCEAN 482	The Changing Arctic Ocean	3	Sp (even years)
OCEAN 496	Study Abroad: Coastal Ecosystems of Micronesia	6	Su

Biology

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
BIOL 311	Biology of Fishes	3/5	W
BIOL 423	Marine Ecological Processes	3	W
BIOL 433	Marine Ecology	5	Sp (odd years)
BIOL 434	Invertebrate Zoology	5	W, Sp, Su
BIOL 451	Invertebrate Paleontology	5	W

Friday Harbor Labs

Note: Courses with the FHL prefix take place in residence at Friday Harbor Labs, UW’s marine field station located on San Juan Island. Learn more about incorporating a quarter at FHL into your academic plan.

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
FHL 305	Biology of Fishes	5	A
FHL 430	Marine Zoology	5	Sp
FHL 432	Marine Invertebrate Zoology	9	Su
FHL 440	Marine Botany	5	Sp
FHL 492	Ecology & Conservation of Marine Birds & Mammals	9	Su

Aquatic & Fishery Science

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
FISH 310	Biology of Shellfishes	5	Sp
FISH 311	Biology of Fishes	3/5	W
FISH 312	Fisheries Ecology	3/5	Sp
FISH 323	Conservation and Management of Aquatic Resources	5	A
FISH 324	Aquatic Animal Physiology and Reproduction	3/5	W
FISH 404	Fish Diseases	5	Sp
FISH 423	Aquatic Invasion Ecology	4	A
FISH 424	Biology and Culture of Aquatic Organisms	5	Sp
FISH 437	Fisheries Oceanography	4	W
FISH 441	Integrative Environmental Physiology	5	A
FISH 464	Arctic Marine Ecology	4	W, odd yrs
FISH 475	Marine Mammalogy	5	Sp

Integrative Experience (3+ credits)

Integrative experience credits cannot count towards a student’s major. Most students complete this requirement by engaging in library research projects through the Seminar in Marine Biology (FISH/OCEAN/BIOL 477) on the Seattle campus or through laboratory or field research credits from FHL. Alternatively, students who have been engaged in research with the same faculty member for two or more quarters may apply to do independent research projects via FISH/BIOL/OCEAN 479.

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
FISH/BIOL/OCEAN 477	Seminar in Marine Biology	3	W
FHL 450, 460, or 470	Research Experience in Marine Biology (FHL)	6	A, Sp
OCEAN 492	Research Apprenticeship in Marine Biology (FHL)	15	A, Sp
FISH/BIOL/OCEAN 479	Independent Research in Marine Biology	3+	A, W, Sp, Su

Course number	Title	Credits	Offered
FISH/OCEAN/BIOL 250	Marine Biology	5	A, Su
OCEAN 210	Integrative Oceans	4	A
BIOL 180	Introduction to Biology	5	A, W, Sp, Su
Q SCI 381	Introduction to Probability and Statistics	5	A, W, Sp, Su