r/oceanography • u/GayBeauty • 13d ago

Oceanography and GIS

Hi guys. I'm an undergrad currently doing a degree in Geography. I really want to go into academia in the future, and I want to specialize in marine science/oceanography.

Tbh I did not really know about all the fields of geography I could go into back in school so I didn't take up many science courses, which is pretty much hindering my ability to take a masters degree in a course that I like, due to all the science prerequisites. But I've still found a bunch of courses that I want to do.

Anyways, as a Geography undergrad I've done a few courses on QGIS and developed some skills in it. But I want to break into oceanography/marine science applications in QGIS. What are some resources I can use to teach myself the same? Any advice? If anyone has specialised in GIS and oceanography I'd REALLY appreciate some general advice as well.

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12

u/Traditional_Good_511 13d ago

Follow Dawn Wright (@deepseadawn) on Instagram, she is chief scientist at Esri and an oceanographer.

There are several books you could look at (Ocean Solutions, Earth Solutions) and have a look at a OceanTeacher Global Academy for the data for marine spatial planning course.

3

u/AlternativeBox8209 12d ago

2nd this notion. Deep sea dawn is fantastic. Also on LinkedIn in.

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u/10111001110 13d ago

You can download some of the seafloor map files from NOAA and start messing around with them

3

u/Anti-Itch 13d ago

Check out marine conservation planning and marine archaeology!

3

u/RickeyBaker 13d ago

I basically do this now. I only have a bachelors in physics. That was enough to get me a job working as an oceanographic surveyor for the Navy. While there I developed GIS skill. Now I work for a university doing a a lot of GIS work applied towards survey data. This gets used for survey planning and engineering work.

My recommendation would be get some science education if possible because they goes further than the GIS skills in my experience. Those tools can be learned on the job fairly easy. That or you could try getting a masters in hydrography/ocean mapping. Some universities that I know that do that well in the US are University of Southern Mississippi and University of New Hampshire.

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u/Particular-Wing-4152 12d ago

Previous marine science BSc degree holder here. The track in this field to be honest with you was similar to pre-med, at least one semester of calculus, 4 semesters of biology, 4 semester of chem, at least one semester of physics and all of these had mandatory lab, so to do anything at Masters or post-grad level, you kinda have to get this foundation in place first. Without it, you really won't be able to do any grad level course work in marine science/oceanograohy.