Providing a solid foundation
Graduate coursework taught by LLO faculty provides foundational knowledge and skills while preparing students to perform their own research and evaluate research performed by others.
An interdisciplinary first-year sequence is structured with active learning and "doing" rather than "listening". Students in this sequence work mostly as teams, advancing their own skill sets while assisting others to advance theirs. More advanced courses in aquatic science topics also are offered.
Active Learning at the Graduate Level
First-year students may participate in four courses (Limnology I and II and Limnology Practices I and II) over fall and spring semesters. Development of these courses is being supported by the US National Science Foundation under an award entitled, "NRT-IGE: Flipping a Foundational Interdisciplinary Graduate Curriculum While Strengthening Connections Outside Academia" to Principal Investigator Katie Schreiner.
A team of four faculty across diverse science fields work together to deliver academic content and coach students through hands-on activities using that material.
Core Requirements
These four courses can fulfill part of the core requirements in the Limnology and Oceanography track within the Water Resources Science MS and PhD degrees. Students from other programs can take one or more of these courses as electives within their programs.
LIM 5010 -- Integrated Approaches to the Study of Inland Waters I (3 units)
LIM 5011 -- Laboratory and Discussion in Integrated Approaches to the Study of Inland Waters I (2 units)
LIM 5012 -- Integrated Approaches to the Study of Inland Waters II (3 units)
LIM 5013 -- Laboratory and Discussion in Integrated Approaches to the Study of Inland Waters II (2 units)
Advanced Graduate Coursework
More advanced graduate courses taught by LLO faculty include:
BIOL 5201 -- Bioinformatics for Biologists
BIOL 5908 -- Ecological Statistics
CHEM 5150 -- Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry
LIM 5101 -- Physical Limnology
LIM 5102 -- Chemical Limnology
LIM 5103 -- Geological Paleolimnology
LIM 5104 -- Geochemical, Physical, and Biological processes in Aquatic Sediments
LIM 5105 -- Research Frontiers and New Directions in Limnology and Environmental Science
PHYS 5541 -- Fluid Dynamics
In addition, supporting coursework is offered through other units at UMD (browse the course catalog).
Finally, there are administrative arrangements whereby UMD graduate students can spend one or more semesters in residence at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus and take classes there, if that is desired and beneficial.