Marine Biology

• This program meets F-1 international student status requirements.
• Students spend a year studying marine biology in three different marine environments: New England, the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Panamá, and the Pacific Northwest.
• Students conduct and present an independent research project with the goal of producing a publishable study.
• A small cohort of 20 students who progress through the program together.

The Three Seas program component of the MS in Marine Biology degree provides students the opportunity to spend a year studying marine biology in three different marine environments: New England (Nahant, MA), the Caribbean (Bocas del Toro, Panama) and the Pacific Northwest (San Juan Island, Washington). This is a unique opportunity for students to live and work in the environments that they are studying.

Each year, a maximum of twenty students study together for an academic year, beginning with the fall semester in Nahant, Massachusetts, at Northeastern University’s Marine Science Center. A variety of pristine intertidal and subtidal communities are well suited to help provide a strong foundation in marine biology and ecology.

After the winter break, a 10-week session is spent in Panama at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Bocas del Toro, located on the Caribbean Sea. Coral reef ecology, ocean and coastal processes, as well as tropical terrestrial ecology are taught using Panama’s diverse tropical ecosystems and unique geographical location as classroom and laboratory on both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts.

The Three Seas program concludes with an eight-week session at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratory on San Juan Island, Washington. Rocky intertidal, subtidal kelp forests and soft-sediment habitats provide the varied seascape that the spring classes explore.

A six-month internship experience provides students with an opportunity to gain workplace experience in marine biology in either an academic setting or within the private or public sector. This transition from classroom to workplace allows students to put the experience gained in the year of coursework to use while working with academic research scientists, state and federal agencies, or private consulting firms.

Fall admissions only. January 1 is the priority admissions deadline.

Applications received after this date will be reviewed on a rolling admissions basis, depending on space availability.

• Online application

• Application fee

• Transcripts from all institutions attended

  • The Foreign Credential Evaluation (FCE) is a required assessment of all transcripts and documents from non-U.S. accredited post-secondary education institutions. (Review the FCE requirements by country.)

• Personal statement

• Resumé

• 3 letters of recommendation

• English language proficiency:

  • Degree earned or in progress at a U.S. institution

  • Degree earned or in progress at an institution where English is the only medium of instruction

  • Official exam scores from either the TOEFL iBT (institution code is 3682), IELTS, PTE exam, or Duolingo English Test. Scores are valid for 2 years from the test date.