September 13, 2021 - October 24, 2021

This course is about life in the oceans, from the sunlit surface to the inky depths, from microscopic phytoplankton to the great blue whale. This course uncovers the evolutionary history of marine organisms, adaptations to life in water, the behavior and functional morphology of sea animals, interactions between species, and current threats. Throughout the course, we meet scientists who are developing ingenious solutions for overcoming the challenges of one of the world’s most inhospitable environments and are making remarkable discoveries. By evaluating these cases and analyzing real scientific data, we come to understand some of the ways that life has adapted to diverse ocean habitats, how it interacts with the physical environment and with other organisms, and why it matters to us.