Origin of Earth’s Oceans: Big Bang to Present

This course is a 13.8-billion-year visual journey from the origin of the universe to the formation of Earth’s marine environments. An overview of present-day interactions among abiotic factors in our planet’s predominantly saltwater surface that support global climate systems and the ocean’s diversity of life will be presented. Then we will study the effects of the Industrial Revolution on climate, as it relates to temperature and pH changes affecting primary production and the survival of marine life forms. A field trip to a nearby coastal site is planned for a demonstration of the use of modern technological instrumentation for assessing the ecological health of Rhode Island’s marine waters.

Michael Bernarsky holds degrees in biology and environmental science. During his 40+ years as an educator, he has developed and instructed biology and ecology courses at the secondary education, community college and university levels. While serving as an adjunct professor for 25 years at Penn State University, he created and instructed a series of graduate-level biology/ecology summer travel courses: Appalachian Mountain Ecology, New Jersey Pine Barrens, Chesapeake Bay Ecology, Atlantic Boreal Coast Ecology (Bay of Fundy), Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest Ecosystems and the Natural History of the Hawaiian Island Archipelago. Since moving to Newport, he has been engaged in tide pool monitoring as it relates to climate change.