Marine Biology, M.S.

Florida Tech is well known for accessible faculty and a personalized, engaging learning experience. Students benefit from small, focused classes and professors offer mentorship throughout the degree.

You'll learn from experienced faculty who encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and bring the latest marine science—as well as a wealth of teaching and research experience—into the classroom and lab. Students participate in both faculty-led and personal research.

You’ll work closely with your faculty advisor to plan your curriculum and research, and we encourage applicants to contact faculty in the department to identify a prospective advisor. 

The program offers a wide range of topics for specialization, from coral-reef ecology and shark reproductive biology to polar biology, marine disease control and harmful algal blooms. 

Because there are so many relevant topics, students select an area of interest and specialize in it. Studying for a master’s in marine biology at Florida Tech is a multifaceted experience that includes other scientific disciplines, from aquaculture and oceanography to chemistry, meteorology and zoology.

The curriculum, laboratories and field-research programs at Florida Tech are robust, encouraging students to formulate new ideas that contribute to the field.

Graduate students become members of the scientific societies that support the marine biology field, present their research at scientific conferences and submit their research findings for publication in respected marine biology journals.

The marine biology master's degree includes a thesis, allowing students to deeply explore a specific topic and complete original research of publishable quality.

Under the mentorship of an advisor and an advisory committee, students delve into their chosen specialization and contribute meaningful findings to the marine biology field. Before graduating, each student presents their research at a departmental thesis seminar, sharing their insights with the academic community.

Completing a master’s thesis enhances your academic and professional profile. You’ll develop expertise in a specialized area, giving you an edge when pursuing roles that prioritize deep subject matter knowledge. It's also excellent preparation for those considering doctoral studies, providing a strong foundation in independent research.

At Florida Tech you’ll be in the midst of a variety of marine environments, including the estuarine habitats of the Indian River Lagoon—home to more than 4,300 species of plants and animals—and the expansive ecosystems of the Atlantic Ocean.

Our Ralph S. Evinrude Marine Operations Center, located where Crane Creek meets the Indian River Lagoon, is just a few minutes from campus. It provides easy access to the lagoon and freshwater tributaries for research and houses small outboard-powered boats and medium-sized workboats. Only steps away from the docks, the Mertens Marine Center offers convenient lab, research and meeting space.

Back on campus, you’ll find well-equipped classrooms and labs for marine biology in the F.W. Olin Life Sciences building and the L3Harris Center for Science and Engineering.

Our location in a state with so many miles of coastline provides us with many local, state and national agencies, marine environmental consulting firms, public aquaria, aquaculture companies, private marine-research organizations and other institutions offering research opportunities, internships and employment.

The Melbourne/Orlando area has one of the largest high-tech workforces in the country—and that means numerous internship and employment opportunities for our students. We’re on the Space Coast, with NASA-Kennedy Space Center just north of us.

This workforce, along with Florida Tech's close connections within the marine sciences community, provides our students with an abundance of internships in marine biology disciplines and potential employment opportunities with organizations such as:

• Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
• Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
• Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
• Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium
• Shedd Aquarium
• Perry Institute for Marine Science