Coastal Resource Management at the Florida Institute of Technology (Integrated Oceanography/Management Curricula)

At the Florida Institute of Technology, an attempt is being made to train a new breed of coastal zone managers. Students are admitted into the graduate level Coastal Resource Management Program after receiving a bachelor´s degree in engineering or one of the physical or natural sciences. Their backgrounds are first supplemented with undergraduate course work in the basic sciences where necessary. As the candidates attain a graduate level orientation in the coastal sciences their studies are reinforced with management and coastal planning courses and appropriate subjects dealing with remote sensing, legal-environmental aspects and economics. Upon completion of a thesis or a supervised internship the degree of Masters of Coastal Resource Management is conferred. This more technological and applied approach to the development of coastal managers and planners constitutes a significant step forward in the quality of coastal zone management training which will better serve the needs of government and industry.