The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and the Georgia Institute of Technology – Savannah are joining hands to create a new joint degree program to prepare professionals to deal with emerging issues along in coastal regions.

The Coastal Science and Engineering Program will combine research-based marine science with engineering concepts. Six students are enrolled to begin the graduate program this fall.

“This program will be unique to the Southeast and one of only a few like it in the country,” said Skidaway Institute Director Jim Sanders. “By combining research science with engineering, the program will produce graduates who will be able to look at the spectrum of coastal issues from many different angles.”

According to Sanders, increasing coastal populations and an ever-changing coastline make it necessary to create a program that will integrate science and engineering.

“Because development along the Georgia coast has been slower than in some other parts of the country, we are just now beginning to see the pressures that can come with increased population,” said Sanders. “We need well-trained scientist-engineers with the background to help us prevent and mitigate some of the problems that have developed elsewhere.”

Skidaway Institute professor Jay Brandes will teach one of the first courses. He says this program will train the next generation of scientist-engineers needed to interface technology with mankind's needs in a period of increasing climate uncertainty.

“The graduates of the program will be equipped to populate the future workforce to design and manage harbors; develop and maintain ocean observatory sensors and networks; model and predict invasive species and pathogen trajectories; and mitigate some of the unexpected consequences of coastal habitation,” Brandes said.

“There are many problems in engineering that require the expertise of those working in the sciences, and vice-versa,” said Georgia Tech professor Paul Work. “The idea behind this program is to educate students who will operate in the area where engineering and ocean sciences overlap.”

The program will focus classroom instruction on fundamental concepts and processes that are universal, rather than on facts that may apply to a single location or process. It will partner engineers with marine scientists to ensure the use of mathematical techniques for applying concepts to environmental situations and stress problem-solving skills.

“I look forward to working with engineers,” said Brandes. “They generally have a very strong aptitude for quantitative problem solving.

“The students will generally have less ‘real world’ experience in the marine environment, but I am optimistic our program will provide many opportunities for them to learn to appreciate the complexities of working in marine ecosystems.”

The first course in the program will include five days on board Skidaway Institute’s ocean-going Research Vessel Savannah so students can immediately experience first-hand working in a challenging environment. Additional courses will cover subject areas not usually joined together in the same course of study, especially at the graduate level. Coastal engineering will be covered in combination with basic sciences such as hydrology, meteorology, biology and coastal ecology.

Brandes says the project will be a learning process that should strengthen both Skidaway Institute and Georgia Tech. “Here in Georgia and around the world, we need skilled engineers who also appreciate the special challenges provided by salt water, shifting sediments and environmental changes,” he said.

The program will be supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

“The program forms a partnership between two productive academic research entities and encourages participation by other University System institutions and faculty,” said Sanders. “It should serve as a model program for other regions in the country.”

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Note: The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography is an autonomous research unit of the University System of Georgia located on Skidaway Island in Savannah, Ga. The mission of the Institute is to provide the State of Georgia with a nationally and internationally recognized center of excellence in marine science through research and education.