Shoals Marine Laboratory - Courses & Programs

Gain firsthand experience exploring marine science in Maine

Taking courses at Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island, Maine, gives you the opportunity to study marine science with the ocean as your classroom.

Located about six miles off the Maine and New Hampshire coastline, 99-acre Appledore Island is remote yet accessible via a one-hour boat ride from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Appledore and other Isles of Shoals are home to migratory birds, a diverse marine invertebrate community, and hundreds of harbor and gray seals.

Shoals offers courses between May and August. During one-week, two-week, and two-and-a-half-week sessions, you'll gain hands-on field and laboratory experience and study with world-class faculty.

You can study intertidal and subtidal ecology, seabird and marine mammal ecology, marine conservation, underwater research, ornithology, sustainable fisheries, forensic science, animal behavior, and more.

In addition, to courses for undergraduates and graduate students, Shoals also offers:

See the Shoals website for details.

Program highlights

Live, study, and play on Appledore Island, one of nine islands in the Isles of Shoals archipelago.
Participate in all-day learning (8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., with breaks for meals and studying).
Enjoy extensive laboratory experiences and fieldwork (land-based and boat-based).
Complete an individual or group research project.
Benefit from small class sizes (faculty to student ratio between 1:5 to 1:8).

Shoals Marine Laboratory, a unit of Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire, is a leader in marine science education, research, and outreach.

Watch a video about Shoals Marine Laboratory or view a live feed of the island campus.

Faculty

During Cornell’s summer and winter sessions, you’ll enjoy the same great education that’s offered during our fall and spring semesters. Our special sessions feature outstanding instructors and researchers, many of whom are leaders in their fields.

Shoals Marine Laboratory Study on Appledore Island, Maine, at one of the nation's leading institutions for marine science education, research, and outreach

Gain firsthand experience exploring marine science in Maine

Program highlights

Faculty