Teaching Marine Biology..

Teaching Marine Biology.. 

As I get ready to teach Marine Biology as part of the American Museum of Natural History's Seminars on Science courses, I reflect on the nature of science. This course has a special meaning for me, as my neighborhood of Inwood has tidal marshes, brackish water, and a unique ecosystem resulting from these geographical aspects of Manhattan. 
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​From my neuroscience work studying hippocampal synapses to teaching about oceans, I think of the aspects of the scientific method that are similar and dissimilar across these very different disciplines. While the scales of the object of study are quite different, there are many similarities too, in systematic observation, classification, and developing hypotheses. Whether it is asking how seizures stop and start, to wondering how baby geese learn to swim, or how the great egret learns to migrate, the sense of wonder across scientific disciplines is the same!