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Scuba diver underwater with a drill going into a round coral.
Researchers work to understand the current and past conditions of the ocean, such as this scientist drilling in a coral head to study its history. Photo Credit: J. Carilli, S. Donner

Oceanography is the study of the ocean and all of its living and non-living components. Oceanographers, or marine scientists, study all of the systems that affect the world’s ocean and the life within it. Oceanography as we know it today consists of sub-disciplines, including Geological Oceanography, Chemical Oceanography, Physical Oceanography, and Biological Oceanography. Marine Engineering and Marine Resource Management (including fisheries) are also often included under the marine sciences umbrella. Some of the most important discoveries and developments in oceanography have been the result of integrated, multidisciplinary studies involving geologists, chemists, biologists, physical oceanographers, and engineers.

At Bellevue College, Oceanography is one of five sciences that comprise our Earth and Space Sciences Program (the others are Astronomy, Geology, Environmental Science, and Meteorology).