Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
2000
Department
Marine Science
Abstract
A new partnership in Mississippi teams the operational arm of the U.S. Navy with the state academic leader in marine science, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), to establish a nationally unique Center For Hydrographic Excellence. The Navy brings eight of the world’s most modern survey ships, a solid core of experienced field hydrographers, and the nation’s most extensive holdings of bathymetric and hydrographic data to the partnership. USM joins the union with a new graduate degree program in Hydrographic Science established by the Department of Marine Science at the Stennis Space Center. This new graduate degree program, formally approved by the Mississippi Board of Trustees of the State Institutions of Higher Learning, offers a rigorous, oneyear Master of Science (M.S.) degree in Hydrographic Science. This non-thesis degree program requires 36 semester hours of graduate-level courses, taught on-site, and enables professional field hydrographers to participate in a resident masters level program without impacting operations. A selection of elective courses is also offered that will give the students two options, completing the degree program with a practical field orientation or with a more theoretical course of study. Presently, there are no accredited academic programs in Hydrographic Science within the United States that are certified at the Category A level by the Féderation Internationale des Géométres/International Hydrographic Organization (FIG/IHO) International Advisory Board. The USM curriculum has been designed to meet the requirement of the FIG/IHO Category A standards for academic proficiency in hydrographic surveying. The process to obtain the FIG/IHO Category A has been initiated, and the program package was presented to the FIG/IHO International Advisory Board in April 2000. The Stennis Space Center is the home of the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) detachment, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Data Buoy Center. NAVOCEANO, primarily an operational data collection and production center, additionally hosts the Navy’s Supercomputing and Visualization Center, the Warfighting Support Center, and the Matthew Fontaine Maury Oceanographic Library, the world’s largest military oceanographic library. In addition, NAVOCEANO presents a well-established, certified FIG/IHO Category B level course. The USM Department of Marine Science maintains various academic and research activities that focus on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary aspects of the marine sciences in coastal to offshore environments. The unique aggregation of academic faculty, hydrographers, oceanographers, and facilities at the Stennis Space Center provides an ideal location for this new program. This paper will introduce the new graduate degree program in Hydrographic Science and describe the synergy achieved through this unique collaboration, wherein the academic program is collocated at this dynamic national center of expertise in littoral ocean survey operations, research, and development. This new collaborative effort has been designed to prepare hydrographers to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Recommended Citation
IHO (1997). STANDARDS OF COMPETENCE FOR HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYORS. International Hydrographic Organization M5 Publication, Eighth Edition, Monaco, 1997, pp. 36. USM (1999). Graduate Bulletin 1999-2000. University of Southern Mississippi publication, Volume 86, Number 3, Hattiesburg, MS, USA, 1999, pp. 330.