Marine Biology Degree Programs

Marine biology requires a keen sense of exploring the unknown, and taking your studies overseas is the perfect way to hone this passion. Earning your degree abroad in marine biology may understandably seem like an intimidating prospect, but you will find that leaving home and living in a new country opens up an entire new world of personal inspiration and professional opportunity in the field. What you choose to do, and where you choose to go, from there is open territory.

Anywhere that water plays a vital role in life on land, marine biology becomes a necessary endeavor (that means everywhere). While it is accordingly a common field of study all over the world, however, there are a few parameters you should keep in mind while deciding on where to pursue your marine biology degree abroad.

First is geography; it is understandable that many students will want to pursue their marine biology degree abroad in a location with easy access to the ocean or another such large body of water. Countries in the Asia-Pacific region such as Australia, Malaysia, and India to begin with are widely known for their rich biodiversity of aquatic life, and so can be great places to pursue a degree abroad in marine biology.

Next, you will also want to keep the language barrier in mind. While it may be tempting to travel somewhere faraway and unknown to earn your marine biology degree abroad, you should keep in mind that most universities will use their national language as the medium of education. Anglophiles shouldn’t panic; Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom still luckily boast some of the best universities in the world for marine biology degrees abroad.

At the undergraduate level, some universities around the world will offer a B.S. degree abroad in marine biology as its own distinct discipline, while others will offer it as a focus within a larger field such as environmental science or general biology. Either way, you will typically start out by taking a broad range of fundamental courses in related fields such as chemistry, biology, oceanography, ecology, and other such disciplines.

At the graduate level, most schools that offer a degree program will treat marine biology as its own distinct discipline. A Master’s degree abroad in marine biology generally requires one or two years of study, while a PhD can require up to several years on top of this. Earning a graduate degree abroad in marine biology will typically require a substantial amount of research in an even more focused area of the field, such as phycology, ichthyology, or invertebrate zoology.

Many marine biology degree abroad programs will also offer the opportunity to combine your studies with an internship or other such work opportunity, which can prove a valuable asset moving forward into the professional world. Earning a marine biology degree abroad is a great way to meet like-minded peers and professional contacts from all over the world!

Underwater Ecosystems. Earning your degree abroad in marine biology is the opportunity to choose from any oceanographic environment around the world where you will be studying and researching. Wherever you are most interested in, go there!

Life on Land. While your focus will be on life under the sea while you pursue your degree abroad in marine biology, living in a different country will prove equally as educational experience in the tremendous diversity of human life on our planet. Get ready to experience something wholly new.

International Territory. Marine biology takes place largely in international waters, and earning your degree abroad will be a great practice in thinking beyond national boundaries. Any significant effort in the field will require a truly global effort.

Earning your degree abroad in marine biology is the first step in a life of global exploration. So much of the seas are still unknown to us, and it will be up to marine biologists everywhere to solidify this invaluable field of human knowledge.