Graduate and undergraduate students grab you flip flops and textbooks and head down to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab to study in the sun this summer.

Registration is open for University Programs 2017 summer session, and the schedule includes four new options. 

"We've added courses that significantly broaden our curriculum. For example, we will offer a new course that investigates the causes and impacts of changing sea levels," University Programs Chair Dr. Ken Heck said. "We will also offer a course on ocean acoustics that should appeal to engineering students and others interested in understanding how sound is transmitted and received in marine environments."

Dr. Heck added, "we will also offer new courses in restoration ecology, that will focus on the growing practice of restoring coastal habitats damaged by coastal development, and an intensive field-based class on the biology and ecology of fishes of the Gulf of Mexico."

Along with the new options, summer session favorites are back on the schedule including sharks and rays, coastal wetlands ecology, intro to oceanography, and shellfish aquaculture. 

Auburn's oysterman Bill Walton is once again teaching the shellfish aquaculture course, and he's looking forward to sharing the experience with students.

“I’m really excited to offer the opportunity to our students to see what’s going on with shellfish aquaculture in the Gulf of Mexico, from clam farms in Florida, new off-bottom oyster farms and hatcheries across the Gulf to large oyster bottom leases in Louisiana,” Walton said.

Not sure what to expect when you come to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab during the summer session. Check out our video below.

Dauphin Island Sea Lab University Programs Overview from Dauphin Island Sea Lab on Vimeo.