Paper Topics

Your paper should be short (about 6-7 pages double-spaced not counting the title page and the bibliography, typed or word-processed), and on a subject concerning the ocean or marine environment which is of interest to you. You may select a topic from the appended list or choose one of your own. Approval of the topic by a faculty member in the course is required. This can be obtained by making an appointment to see that person, by telephone, or via e-mail. It is advisable to choose a topic that is specific, even narrow, rather than a broad subject area. Approval of your topic may therefore be a two-step process: the first consisting of a discussion of a broad area of interest, and the second consisting of a definition of a specific topic. The faculty member who approves your topic may be able to supply you with a reference to an article in a scientific journal to get you started. If you choose a topic related to the reading assignments at the beginning of the course, get approval of that topic from the instructor for that group. The list of reading assignments for all 7 discussion groups is posted on the course web site http://marine.rutgers.edu/dmcs/ms200 .

Paper Format

One approach is to pose a question (e.g. see some of the questions in the Marine Chemistry and Biological Oceanography topics following), discuss the status of knowledge on the topic, and propose a solution or what the next steps might be in answering the question. Alternatively, the paper might be a mini-review of a topic, with the following sections: Introduction, Background (summary of previous research), Current Research and the Techniques Used (summarize the results from one or more of the primary research papers you cite), Possible Future Directions, and Bibliography. Useful scientific reviews summarize what is known about a topic and reflect knowledge in the recentscientific literature. For this reason your paper should include references in the bibliography to at least one general source (e.g., a textbook or monograph, or a journal such as Oceanus, The National Geographic, Scientific American, or Trends in Ecology and Evolution), and at least three fairly recent (i.e. last 5 years) research articles in a primary scientific journal. Copies of photographs, figures, or tables from these sources should not be included in the paper. Your own original diagram explaining an idea could be included. In addition to the text, the paper should have a cover page with the title of your paper and your name on it.

In the text of your paper, statements that are backed up by the references should be accompanied by an appropriate literature citation. Scientific journals use slightly different formats for listing the cited references in a bibliography. An example of how to cite a journal article follows:

Bhagooli, R., Hidaka, M. (2004). Release of zooxanthellae with intact photosynthetic activity by the coral Galaxea fascicularis in response to high temperature stress. Marine Biology 145: 329-337.

For your bibliography you should give the journal name in full, rather than trying to abbreviate it. In the text of your paper this article would be cited as (Bhagooli and Hidaka 2004). A book would be listed in the bibliography in this way:

Bertness, M. D., Gaines, S. D., Hay, M. E. (2001). Marine Community Ecology, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.

In the text of your paper please cite this reference as (Bertness et al. 2001, p.212), i.e., add the page number(s) in the book that you are citing. A good reference for detailed information on scientific writing and editing, especially in the biological sciences, is the CBE Style Manual, Council of Biology Editors, Inc., Bethesda, MD.

Log of Library Research for your Term Paper

You should keep a log of your library research and hand it in with the final draft of your paper. The log may be handwritten provided it is legible. It should list the date of your research, the location (e.g. Chang), the nature of your search (e.g., Web of Science or Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management index/browse option using keywords , and the outcome (e.g. 10 references in primary literature since 1990). The next entry should briefly note your follow-up research (e.g. date, LSM, found 5 of 10 primary references, decided to limit topic to dolphins and heavy metals, used references to find additional papers on dolphins and heavy metals prior to 1990). Alternatively, if the person approving your topic gave you a recent paper as a starting point, briefly note the reference and how you used the bibliography in the paper to track down additional references, including notes on any change in your topic or in the direction of your paper. I advise you not to make extensive use of the Internet for finding peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Accessing the Marine Science Literature

On October 7 we will demonstrate how to use the various on-line databases and describe how best to access the marine science literature. Attendance at this session will be helpful in your research especially if you already have a topic in mind.

In one of the Rutgers libraries, use your subject as the starting point for a bibliographic search using one of the terminals to give you access to the whole Rutgers system. A good database of recent journal articles is available on the university network under Web of Science or Eureka/Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management Index. Be sure to ask for help from the librarians in learning short-cuts to find your way through the system but you can also experiment on your own. Most of the marine science journals and books are held at the LSM (Library of Science and Medicine) on the Busch campus and at the Chang Library in Foran Hall. Many marine science journals are now available electronically with full text.

The Chang Library also has available indices for articles in Nat. Geog. and Oceanus (Reader's Guide - hard copy or PROQUEST, a CD-ROM that you can search yourself). The library also has a one-page handout entitled "Marine Science Sources" which lists various online abstracts and indices, and the titles of some of the marine science journals. The Chang Library presently handles resources in aquaculture and fisheries, marine biology, and physical oceanography. Some journals e.g., Marine Mammal Science, have only been taken in recent years (Vol. 6, 1990 +). You can get abstracts of earlier papers in this journal through DIALOG. If you need the whole paper you have to request it on Interlibrary Loan. You should allow 2-3 weeks for it to arrive. Anyone who has a hard time getting started on finding references should see me or contact the faculty member who approved your paper topic. The librarians at LSM and Chang are also available to discuss a search strategy in the appropriate databases.

Introductory Reading and Discussion Groups

The reading and discussion exercise at the beginning of the course will have introduced the distinction between a secondary reference (the review article that constituted your first reading) and a primary reference (a journal article where observational or experimental data are published for the first time). The questions you answered in the written exercises were designed to give you practice in reading a scientific paper in a field in which you are not necessarily an expert, and in extracting the salient facts. Your second writing assignment gave you practice in assembling the facts from more than one source. Pay attention to the style in these readings and note that subjective, personal opinions not backed up by evidence from the primary literature are essentially absent. Scientific writing also generally avoids direct quotations from other sources.

Suggested topics for term paper for Marine Sciences

Physical Oceanography (Scott Glenn)

Effects of Climate Change on Ocean Circulation

El Nino

Western Boundary Currents

Coastal Upwelling, Squirts and Jets

River Outflows

Arctic Sea Ice Interactions

Waves and Beach Processes

Ocean Sampling Networks

Satellite Remote Sensing

Oil Spill Response

Coupled Physical/biological Studies

Air-Sea Interaction

Marine Chemistry (Liz Sikes)

Marine "Snow": The composition and geochemical role of large, fast-sinking particles

Is phytoplankton growth limited by iron supply from atmospheric dust?

The chemical role of colloids (very small particles) in the ocean

The element iridium (Ir) enters the ocean in large part from cosmic dust particles. How does this affect our ability to infer major extraterrestrial impacts in earth's history by measuring Ir in marine sediments?

The element barium (Ba) is removed from the ocean largely by the sinking of solid barium sulfate (barite) particles thought to form in association with shells of phytoplankton. Can the sediment accumulation of this mineral be used to reconstruct past primary productivity in overlying surface waters?

How to use natural radioactivity to estimate how fast phytoplankton growth and decay cycles carbon in the upper ocean

Pollution: limits on the self-cleansing ability of the oceans

Why is the process of denitrification important to the overall global marine nitrogen budget?

Mechanisms of metal toxicity in marine bivalves

El Nino/Southern Oscillation Events

The Fate of Fossil Fuel Carbon Dioxide: Future Predictions

Ice Core Records of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and Other Important Gases

Is the Redfield ratio universal?

How organisms control chemical fluxes between sediment and seawater

Some other aspect of global change

Marine Coastal Geology (Karl Nordstrom)

Rip currents and beach hazards

Creative shore protection projects

Transport and accumulation of beach litter

Beach nourishment projects in New Jersey

Offshore sources of sand

Inlet dynamics

Differences between natural and artificial beaches and dunes

Storm surge models

Coastal hazards

The importance of beaches

Where and how to build a house at the shore

Benthic Ecology (Gary Taghon)

Bioremediation of pollutants in the marine environment

Physics and biology of suspension feeding

Salt marsh restoration

Chemical defenses in marine organisms

Marine Biology and Ecology (Judy Grassle)

Sea urchin population explosions and die-offs in the Caribbean

Overfishing: does it harm coral reefs?

Causes of crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks on the Great Barrier Reef

Life history of a hydrothermal vent species (e.g., vesicomyid clam, Calyptogena magnifica, vent mussel, Bathymodiolus thermophilus, tubeworms, Riftia pachyptila)

Chemoautotrophy at hydrothermal vents

Symbioses: how do the dinoflagellate symbionts get transferred from one host generation to the next?  How specific is the host/symbiont relationship?

Population genetics: its application to the management of large, mobile fishes (e.g. skipjack, albacore and yellowfin tunas, blue and white marlin, and sailfishes)

Sibling species in the marine environment

MSX and/or Dermo: impacts on the oyster industry

Orientation and navigation in sea turtles

Techniques for aging marine mammals

Whale falls in the deep sea

Fish (Ken Able)

Life history of any fish species occurring in New Jersey coastal waters