Here they are at the start of the class — they’ll be a bit more tan, much more knowledgeable about coral reef ecosystems, and a bit more fluent in latin (scientific names) by the end of the course.

The 2017 edition of MAR 388/537 Tropical Marine Ecology has begun. All students (and instructors) arrived here in Jamaica, some after shoveling out their driveways and cars. While we have had zero snow here in Discovery Bay, the winds have been quite strong — strong enough that we aren’t able to get in the water so far (well, we could get in the water but the waves are strong enough that you couldn’t see anything). So instead we’re kicking things off with a 52 organisms Identification scramble and some lectures on invertebrates and algae today.

As an added bonus, a research group from Stony Brook University (and their collaborators) studying groundwater hydrology along Jamaica is at the lab for the next few days, so it’s almost like a (much warmer) satellite campus.

Student blog posts will begin tonight or tomorrow. Expect 1 in the morning and one in the afternoon until we head back to NY.

We (the instructors) love when parents, family, and friends comment on the student posts — especially if you refer to the student by an embarrassing childhood nickname.

Profs. Peterson and Warren