Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
Encyclopedia
The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS [ˈræz.məs]) is a college and research institute
for the study of oceanography
and the atmospheric sciences
within the University of Miami
(UM). It is located on a 16 acre
(65,000 m²) campus on Virginia Key
in Miami
, Florida
, USA. It is the only subtropical applied and basic marine and atmospheric research institute in the continental United States.
Up until 2008, RSMAS was solely a graduate school
within the University of Miami, while it jointly administrated an undergraduate program
with UM's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2008, the Rosenstiel School has taken over administrative responsibilities for the undergraduate program, granting Bachelor of Science in Marine and Atmospheric Science (BSMAS) and Bachelor of Arts in Marine Affairs (BAMA) baccalaureate degree. Master's
, including a Master of Professional
Science degree, and doctorates
are also awarded to RSMAS students by the UM Graduate School.
The Rosenstiel School's research includes the study of marine life
, particularly Aplysia
and coral
; climate change
; air-sea interactions; coastal ecology; and admiralty law
. The school operates a marine research laboratory ship, and has a research site at an inland sinkhole
. Research also includes the use of data from weather satellites and the school operates its own satellite downlink facility.
. In 1945, when the boathouse became structurally unsafe, the lab moved to a converted apartment building in Coral Gables, Florida
near the main campus.
In 1947, a delegation from Dade County
prompted the Florida State Legislature to support the development of a state Marine Laboratory in conjunction with the UM lab. It reported to the State Board of Conservation
, which had no marine research facility and little budget of its own at the time. The relationship lasted for 12 years until the state of Florida built the board a lab in St. Petersburg
. In 1953, the School's classrooms and laboratories were built at the current Virginia Key location. It was renamed the Institute of Marine Science in 1961, it became part of the University of Miami's School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences.
In 1969, the institution was made into an independent school and named to honor Lewis and Dorothy Rosenstiel after a major contribution from the Rosenstiel's foundation to support progress in atmospheric and marine sciences. In 1977, the school began a joint undergraduate program with Miami's College of Arts & Sciences. The school bought Research vessels and built more facilities to further research projects. From 2003 to 2008, the school operated the Pew Institute for Ocean Science as a joint venture with the The Pew Charitable Trusts, and in 2008, the program relocated to SUNY at Stony Brook.
In 2008, RSMAS took over administrative functions of the University of Miami's undergraduate Marine Science, Marine Affairs, and Meteorology programs. Also in 2008, RSMAS's library merged with the central University of Miami Library. Recently, RSMAS started unique a one-year Master of Professional Science degree program aimed at students planning non-research careers in business, government, or non-profit organizations.
degree and a Master of Arts in Marine Affairs and Policy. RSMAS also administrates the University of Miami's undergraduate Marine Science, Marine Affairs, and Meteorology programs on the main campus in Coral Gables, Florida
.
The Rosenstiel School is divided into six academic divisions, each focusing on a different aspect of oceanography:
In addition to the academic divisions, RSMAS also has several research units: the Oceans and Human Health Center, the National Resource for Aplysia
, the National Center for Coral Reef Research, the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing
(CSTARS), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
. , 358 professors and scientists conduct research programs and teach at RSMAS and the Coral Gables campus. Of these, 81 are regular full-time faculty members.
The school operates the F.G. Walton Smith research vessel
. Designed to met the school's specifications, the catamaran
was put on water in 2000. It is used for research in the shallow water environments of Florida and The Bahamas
. It is equipped with a special sea water flow system that can take samples. The on-board lab can perform chemical analysis of those water samples. It also has transducer
s for measuring ocean currents, sub-bottom profiling, and deep water bathymetry
. In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
, the vessel was reassigned to environmental monitoring of affected areas and to track underwater plumes of oil.
The Rosenstiel School's research invertebrate museum houses one of the world's most extensive collections of invertebrate tropical marine life with 400,000 specimens. It includes Atlantic tropical marine invertebrates. The collection consists of 60,000 specimen lots, out of which 38,900 are cataloged and identified species.
Since 2005, RSMAS has conducted an Underwater Photography
Contest that is open to photographers who earn no more than 20 percent of their income from photography. The contest draws international submissions and is judged by a panel of experts in underwater photography and fine arts. RSMAS also makes underwater photographs available through its Digital Atlas of Marine Species and Locations, which is a database that includes photos of specific marine species.
Since 1951, RSMAS has published the Bulletin of Marine Science a scientific journal
which publishes research papers in the marine subject areas covered by the school. It is published four times a year.
The United States National Research Council
ranked graduate research programs based on 2008 data, and RSMAS ranked 11th to 40th among Oceanography, Atmospheric Sciences, and Meteorology Rankings. The RSMAS entering graduate students' Average Quantitative Graduate Record Examination
score was 681.
The Virginia Key 18 acres (72,843.5 m²) campus includes classroom facilities, laboratories, a dock
, and a student center. The center, called the F. G. Walton Smith Commons, holds a cafeteria and a bar that was rated as one of Miami's best secrets by the Miami New Times
in 2008. The RSMAS campus features mangrove
s, sea grape
trees, and other dune plants to protect its sand dunes and the campus from storm damage. In 2009, UM received a $15 million federal grant to help construct a new $43.8 million, 56500 square feet (5,249 m²) Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater Research Building. The Virginia Key campus is part of a 65 acres (263,045.9 m²) marine research and education park that includes two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) research laboratories and the Maritime and Science Technology Academy
magnet school
.
RSMAS also operates a 76 acres (307,561.4 m²) site on mainland Miami-Dade County that was formerly the United States Naval Observatory
Secondary National Time Standard Facility, which already had buildings and a 20M antenna used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry
(VLBI). The Rosenstiel School's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) and Richmond Satellite Operations Center (RSOC) have research facilities located on what is now named the Richmond Campus.
Culture Laboratory, Controlled Corals Climate Tanks, and DNA analysis equipment. The Richmond Campus' CSTARS provides RSMAS with a near-real-time weather satellite downlink. The Rosenstiel School also operates the Bimini Biological Field Station, an array of oceanographic high-frequency radar along the US east coast, and the Bermuda aerosol observatory. Since 1977, the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), a scientific partnership between UM and the NOAA, has been studying climate change, air-sea interactions and coastal ecology.
Research projects at RSMAS are in the domain of atmospheric and marine sciences and include:
RSMAS's Marine Affairs & Policy Division also conducts archaeological
and paleontological
research at Little Salt Spring
in Sarasota County
. The site was donated to the University of Miami in 1982. RSMAS also hosts the National Center for Coral Reef Research (NCORE), which works to understand, conserve and manage coral reefs worldwide.
RSMAS has focused significant resources to studying the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its long term environmental effect. The school is an active member of the State of Florida's Oil Spill Academic Task Force that works with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
on spill issues. In the summer of 2010, a CIMAS team working with the research vessel Walton Smith was able to document a 23 miles (37 km) long oil plume extending toward the Dry Tortugas
.
The Corporación Andina de Fomento
has awarded a grant to RSMAS to conduct a feasibility study for a new experimental water tunnel facility located in Panama
. The proposed Water Tunnel of the Americas at the Panama Canal (WTAPC) would be the largest water tunnel facility in the world. The facility would be similar to a wind tunnel, but would flow water at high velocity around the objects being studied.
The quality of the school is evaluated through peer-reviewed competition for faculty research grants. In addition, each year, the National Science Foundation conduct a nation-wide student competition for Graduate Research Award Fellowship, and in 2010, five RSMAS students received such awards with two additional honorable mentions.
Research institute
A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...
for the study of oceanography
Oceanography
Oceanography , also called oceanology or marine science, is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean...
and the atmospheric sciences
Atmospheric sciences
Atmospheric sciences is an umbrella term for the study of the atmosphere, its processes, the effects other systems have on the atmosphere, and the effects of the atmosphere on these other systems. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather...
within the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
(UM). It is located on a 16 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
(65,000 m²) campus on Virginia Key
Virginia Key
Virginia Key is a barrier island in Miami, Florida, United States in Biscayne Bay, south of Brickell and north of Key Biscayne. It accessible from the mainland via the Rickenbacker Causeway....
in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, USA. It is the only subtropical applied and basic marine and atmospheric research institute in the continental United States.
Up until 2008, RSMAS was solely a graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
within the University of Miami, while it jointly administrated an undergraduate program
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...
with UM's College of Arts and Sciences. In 2008, the Rosenstiel School has taken over administrative responsibilities for the undergraduate program, granting Bachelor of Science in Marine and Atmospheric Science (BSMAS) and Bachelor of Arts in Marine Affairs (BAMA) baccalaureate degree. Master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
, including a Master of Professional
First professional degree
A professional degree prepares the holder for a particular profession by emphasizing competency skills along with theory and analysis. These professions are typically licensed or otherwise regulated by a governmental or government-approved body...
Science degree, and doctorates
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
are also awarded to RSMAS students by the UM Graduate School.
The Rosenstiel School's research includes the study of marine life
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
, particularly Aplysia
Aplysia
Aplysia is a genus of medium-sized to extremely large sea slugs, specifically sea hares, which are one clade of large sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks. The general description of sea hares can be found in the article on the superfamily Aplysioidea....
and coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
; climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
; air-sea interactions; coastal ecology; and admiralty law
Admiralty law
Admiralty law is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans...
. The school operates a marine research laboratory ship, and has a research site at an inland sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
. Research also includes the use of data from weather satellites and the school operates its own satellite downlink facility.
History
In 1940, University of Miami President Bowman Ashe recruited F.G. Walton Smith, a young British marine biologist who was working in the Bahamas. Smith joined the Department of Zoology, and began organizing the development of a marine laboratory. In 1943, the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami established the Marine Laboratory for the University. They invited researchers and oceanographers to associate themselves with this laboratory. Its three original objectives were teaching, basic research, and applied marine research. The laboratory focused on subjects specific to the tropical environment. Initially, the Marine Lab was located in a private boathouse on an estate on Belle Isle in Miami Beach, FloridaMiami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
. In 1945, when the boathouse became structurally unsafe, the lab moved to a converted apartment building in Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, southwest of Downtown Miami, in the United States. The city is home to the University of Miami....
near the main campus.
In 1947, a delegation from Dade County
Miami-Dade County, Florida
Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the state of Florida. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 2,496,435, making it the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States...
prompted the Florida State Legislature to support the development of a state Marine Laboratory in conjunction with the UM lab. It reported to the State Board of Conservation
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is a Florida government agency charged with managing the state's fish and wildlife resources, regulating Florida's fisheries and wildlife, and enforcing related laws...
, which had no marine research facility and little budget of its own at the time. The relationship lasted for 12 years until the state of Florida built the board a lab in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, Florida
St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
. In 1953, the School's classrooms and laboratories were built at the current Virginia Key location. It was renamed the Institute of Marine Science in 1961, it became part of the University of Miami's School of Environmental and Planetary Sciences.
In 1969, the institution was made into an independent school and named to honor Lewis and Dorothy Rosenstiel after a major contribution from the Rosenstiel's foundation to support progress in atmospheric and marine sciences. In 1977, the school began a joint undergraduate program with Miami's College of Arts & Sciences. The school bought Research vessels and built more facilities to further research projects. From 2003 to 2008, the school operated the Pew Institute for Ocean Science as a joint venture with the The Pew Charitable Trusts, and in 2008, the program relocated to SUNY at Stony Brook.
In 2008, RSMAS took over administrative functions of the University of Miami's undergraduate Marine Science, Marine Affairs, and Meteorology programs. Also in 2008, RSMAS's library merged with the central University of Miami Library. Recently, RSMAS started unique a one-year Master of Professional Science degree program aimed at students planning non-research careers in business, government, or non-profit organizations.
Academics
While the graduate programs are conducted by the RSMAS faculty who in turn report to the Dean of RSMAS, the University of Miami's Graduate School awards the graduate degrees. RSMAS offers a joint program with the UM Law School which awards its students both a Juris DoctorJuris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree and a Master of Arts in Marine Affairs and Policy. RSMAS also administrates the University of Miami's undergraduate Marine Science, Marine Affairs, and Meteorology programs on the main campus in Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables, Florida
Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, southwest of Downtown Miami, in the United States. The city is home to the University of Miami....
.
The Rosenstiel School is divided into six academic divisions, each focusing on a different aspect of oceanography:
- Applied Marine Physics (fluid dynamicsFluid dynamicsIn physics, fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics and hydrodynamics...
, remote sensingRemote sensingRemote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon, without making physical contact with the object. In modern usage, the term generally refers to the use of aerial sensor technologies to detect and classify objects on Earth by means of propagated signals Remote sensing...
, waveWaveIn physics, a wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy.Waves travel and the wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass...
s) - MarineChemical oceanographyChemical oceanography is the study of ocean chemistry: the behavior of the chemical elements within the Earth's oceans. The ocean is unique in that it contains - in greater or lesser quantities - nearly every element in the periodic table....
& Atmospheric ChemistryAtmospheric chemistryAtmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary field of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and... - Marine Affairs & Policy (admiralty lawAdmiralty lawAdmiralty law is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans...
, aquacultureAquacultureAquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
, marine conservationMarine conservationMarine conservation, also known as marine resources conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas. Marine conservation focuses on limiting human-caused damage to marine ecosystems, and on restoring damaged marine ecosystems...
, maritime archaeologyMaritime archaeologyMaritime archaeology is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, shore side facilities, port-related structures, cargoes, human remains and submerged...
, natural resource economicsNatural resource economicsImage:Sustainable development.svg|right|The three pillars of sustainability. Click on image areas for more information.|thumbpoly 138 194 148 219 164 240 182 257 219 277 263 291 261 311 264 331 272 351 283 366 300 383 316 394 287 408 261 417 224 424 182 426 154 423 119 415 87 403 58 385 40 368 24...
, political ecologyPolitical ecologyPolitical ecology is the study of the relationships between political, economic and social factors with environmental issues and changes. Political ecology differs from apolitical ecological studies by politicizing environmental issues and phenomena....
) - Marine BiologyMarine biologyMarine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
& FisheriesFisheries scienceFisheries science is the academic discipline of managing and understanding fisheries. It is a multidisciplinary science, which draws on the disciplines of oceanography, marine biology, marine conservation, ecology, population dynamics, economics and management to attempt to provide an integrated... - Marine GeologyMarine geologyMarine geology or geological oceanography involves geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and coastal margins...
& GeophysicsGeophysicsGeophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and... - MeteorologyMeteorologyMeteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
& Physical OceanographyPhysical oceanographyPhysical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters.Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is divided...
In addition to the academic divisions, RSMAS also has several research units: the Oceans and Human Health Center, the National Resource for Aplysia
Aplysia
Aplysia is a genus of medium-sized to extremely large sea slugs, specifically sea hares, which are one clade of large sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks. The general description of sea hares can be found in the article on the superfamily Aplysioidea....
, the National Center for Coral Reef Research, the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing
Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing
The Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing is a ground station that receives imagery data from a variety of remote sensing satellites...
(CSTARS), and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences is a part of the National Institutes of Health , which is in turn a part of the Department of Health and Human Services ....
. , 358 professors and scientists conduct research programs and teach at RSMAS and the Coral Gables campus. Of these, 81 are regular full-time faculty members.
The school operates the F.G. Walton Smith research vessel
Research vessel
A research vessel is a ship designed and equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel, others require a dedicated vessel...
. Designed to met the school's specifications, the catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
was put on water in 2000. It is used for research in the shallow water environments of Florida and The Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
. It is equipped with a special sea water flow system that can take samples. The on-board lab can perform chemical analysis of those water samples. It also has transducer
Transducer
A transducer is a device that converts one type of energy to another. Energy types include electrical, mechanical, electromagnetic , chemical, acoustic or thermal energy. While the term transducer commonly implies the use of a sensor/detector, any device which converts energy can be considered a...
s for measuring ocean currents, sub-bottom profiling, and deep water bathymetry
Bathymetry
Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of lake or ocean floors. In other words, bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to hypsometry. The name comes from Greek βαθύς , "deep", and μέτρον , "measure"...
. In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
, the vessel was reassigned to environmental monitoring of affected areas and to track underwater plumes of oil.
The Rosenstiel School's research invertebrate museum houses one of the world's most extensive collections of invertebrate tropical marine life with 400,000 specimens. It includes Atlantic tropical marine invertebrates. The collection consists of 60,000 specimen lots, out of which 38,900 are cataloged and identified species.
Since 2005, RSMAS has conducted an Underwater Photography
Underwater photography
Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while snorkeling or swimming.-Overview:...
Contest that is open to photographers who earn no more than 20 percent of their income from photography. The contest draws international submissions and is judged by a panel of experts in underwater photography and fine arts. RSMAS also makes underwater photographs available through its Digital Atlas of Marine Species and Locations, which is a database that includes photos of specific marine species.
Since 1951, RSMAS has published the Bulletin of Marine Science a scientific journal
Scientific journal
In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...
which publishes research papers in the marine subject areas covered by the school. It is published four times a year.
The United States National Research Council
United States National Research Council
The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...
ranked graduate research programs based on 2008 data, and RSMAS ranked 11th to 40th among Oceanography, Atmospheric Sciences, and Meteorology Rankings. The RSMAS entering graduate students' Average Quantitative Graduate Record Examination
Graduate Record Examination
The Graduate Record Examinations is a standardized test that is an admissions requirement for many graduate schools in the United States, in other English-speaking countries and for English-taught graduate and business programs world-wide...
score was 681.
Campus
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
, and a student center. The center, called the F. G. Walton Smith Commons, holds a cafeteria and a bar that was rated as one of Miami's best secrets by the Miami New Times
Miami New Times
The Miami New Times is a free weekly newspaper published in Miami and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered near Miami's Design District.-Overview:...
in 2008. The RSMAS campus features mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s, sea grape
Coccoloba uvifera
Coccoloba uvifera is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, that is native to coastal beaches throughout tropical America and the Caribbean, including southern Florida, the Bahamas, Barbados and Bermuda...
trees, and other dune plants to protect its sand dunes and the campus from storm damage. In 2009, UM received a $15 million federal grant to help construct a new $43.8 million, 56500 square feet (5,249 m²) Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater Research Building. The Virginia Key campus is part of a 65 acres (263,045.9 m²) marine research and education park that includes two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
(NOAA) research laboratories and the Maritime and Science Technology Academy
MAST Academy
Maritime and Science Technology Academy, commonly referred to as MAST Academy, or MAST, is a public high school in Miami, Florida, on Virginia Key. MAST Academy is a magnet school under the governance of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The school's principal is Jane Garraux, appointed in August...
magnet school
Magnet school
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
.
RSMAS also operates a 76 acres (307,561.4 m²) site on mainland Miami-Dade County that was formerly the United States Naval Observatory
United States Naval Observatory
The United States Naval Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, with a primary mission to produce Positioning, Navigation, and Timing for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Department of Defense...
Secondary National Time Standard Facility, which already had buildings and a 20M antenna used for Very Long Baseline Interferometry
Very Long Baseline Interferometry
Very Long Baseline Interferometry is a type of astronomical interferometry used in radio astronomy. It allows observations of an object that are made simultaneously by many telescopes to be combined, emulating a telescope with a size equal to the maximum separation between the telescopes.Data...
(VLBI). The Rosenstiel School's Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) and Richmond Satellite Operations Center (RSOC) have research facilities located on what is now named the Richmond Campus.
Research
As of 2008, RSMAS receives $50 million in annual external research funding. Laboratories at Virginia Key are equipped with specialized instruments including a salt-water wave tank, the five-tank Conditioning and Spawning Systems, multi-tank AplysiaAplysia
Aplysia is a genus of medium-sized to extremely large sea slugs, specifically sea hares, which are one clade of large sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks. The general description of sea hares can be found in the article on the superfamily Aplysioidea....
Culture Laboratory, Controlled Corals Climate Tanks, and DNA analysis equipment. The Richmond Campus' CSTARS provides RSMAS with a near-real-time weather satellite downlink. The Rosenstiel School also operates the Bimini Biological Field Station, an array of oceanographic high-frequency radar along the US east coast, and the Bermuda aerosol observatory. Since 1977, the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), a scientific partnership between UM and the NOAA, has been studying climate change, air-sea interactions and coastal ecology.
Research projects at RSMAS are in the domain of atmospheric and marine sciences and include:
- Coral reef research, focusing on corals survival in a new climate conditions; coral reef protection
- Field programs evaluating trace gas chemistry and transport
- The aquaculture program
- Climate change modeling
- Tropical weather, climate, and atmospheric/oceanic circulations
- Air-sea interactions research through buoys, remote sensing, analysis in situ, a wave tank laboratory, numerical modeling;
- Volcanoes in the Pacific, Everglades water level measurements and subsidence through satellite images
- Studies of the coastal quality and the impact on human health.
RSMAS's Marine Affairs & Policy Division also conducts archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and paleontological
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
research at Little Salt Spring
Little Salt Spring
Little Salt Spring is an archaeological and paleontological site in North Port, Florida, United States. It is located directly off Price Boulevard between US 41 and I-75 adjacent to Heron Creek Middle School U.S. Route 41 in the city of North Port...
in Sarasota County
Sarasota County, Florida
Sarasota County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2008 estimate for the county was 372,057. Its county seat is Sarasota, Florida....
. The site was donated to the University of Miami in 1982. RSMAS also hosts the National Center for Coral Reef Research (NCORE), which works to understand, conserve and manage coral reefs worldwide.
RSMAS has focused significant resources to studying the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its long term environmental effect. The school is an active member of the State of Florida's Oil Spill Academic Task Force that works with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is the Florida government agency charged with environmental protection.-History:...
on spill issues. In the summer of 2010, a CIMAS team working with the research vessel Walton Smith was able to document a 23 miles (37 km) long oil plume extending toward the Dry Tortugas
Dry Tortugas
The Dry Tortugas are a small group of islands, located at the end of the Florida Keys, USA, about west of Key West, and west of the Marquesas Keys, the closest islands. Still further west is the Tortugas Bank, which is completely submerged. The first Europeans to discover the islands were the...
.
The Corporación Andina de Fomento
Corporación Andina de Fomento
CAF – Latin American development bank – has the mission of stimulating sustainable development and regional integration by financing projects in the public and private sectors, and providing technical cooperation and other specialized services...
has awarded a grant to RSMAS to conduct a feasibility study for a new experimental water tunnel facility located in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. The proposed Water Tunnel of the Americas at the Panama Canal (WTAPC) would be the largest water tunnel facility in the world. The facility would be similar to a wind tunnel, but would flow water at high velocity around the objects being studied.
The quality of the school is evaluated through peer-reviewed competition for faculty research grants. In addition, each year, the National Science Foundation conduct a nation-wide student competition for Graduate Research Award Fellowship, and in 2010, five RSMAS students received such awards with two additional honorable mentions.
Notable faculty
- Frederick BayerFrederick BayerFrederick Merkle Bayer was the emeritus curator of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, as well as a prominent marine biologist who specialized in the study of soft corals.-Early life:...
(Marine Biology) - Cesare EmilianiCesare EmilianiCesare Emiliani was an Italian-American scientist, considered one of the greatest geologists and micropaleontologists of the 20th century and the founder of paleoceanography, developing the timescale of marine isotope stages, which despite modifications remains in very wide use today.He...
(Geology and Geophysics) - "founder of paleoceanography" - Samuel H. Gruber (Marine Biology and Fisheries)
- José Carlos MillásJosé Carlos MillásJosé Carlos Millás was a Cuban meteorologist. He is known for his research on past Atlantic hurricane seasons, and has been called one of the "fathers of tropical meteorology"....
(Meteorology) - Fred TappertFred TappertFrederick Drach Tappert was an American physicist whose primary contributions were in underwater acoustics. He is noted for the development of the parabolic equation model and split-step Fourier algorithm for electromagnetic and ocean acoustic propagation.He began his scientific career in the...
(Applied Marine Physics)