Do any christian colleges in California offer marine biology majors?

[Guest Faith021]

My daughter has been looking for colleges in California that offer marine biology programs and are christian but hasn't really found any. She has found a few secular schools that seem to have good programs but she is concerned about the classes being evolution based. She was wondering if doing basic biology courses in undergraduate and then taking a marine biology graduate program but I don't know too much about the topic to answer questions... Maybe some of you have experience in this area and can help me out? She is on the swim team and has her PADI open water diver certification and is super passionate about the ocean. Conservation studies or environmental science might help her in the right direction, right? 

[hillfarm]

I am not sure if she will be able to find any legitimate marine science programs that don't include a significant amount of info on the theory of evolution. That said, I'm not sure why she would want to. Evolution is a belief that is held by by huge percentage of the population. I would think it important to understand what the belief entails and how that colors and influences the application of marine science. Knowledge and understanding of does not require agreement or belief.

 

I am a fundamentalist, evangelical Christian yet worked quite happily in the field of marine science for many years before leaving to stay home and raise my child. Sure, I heard a lot about evolution during those years. I just rolled my eyes internally, retained a polite exterior, and went on about my business. I was happy to share details about my faith to any who asked, but God did not call me to be confrontational about evolution or earth age. It was helpful for me to understand the concepts and terminology that others believed about these things, but their acceptance of these theories did not require me to compromise my beliefs at all.

[justasque]

My daughter has been looking for colleges in California that offer marine biology programs and are christian but hasn't really found any. She has found a few secular schools that seem to have good programs but she is concerned about the classes being evolution based. She was wondering if doing basic biology courses in undergraduate and then taking a marine biology graduate program but I don't know too much about the topic to answer questions... Maybe some of you have experience in this area and can help me out? She is on the swim team and has her PADI open water diver certification and is super passionate about the ocean. Conservation studies or environmental science might help her in the right direction, right? 

 

I think if she went the undergrad-Christian-school-Bio-major to grad-secular-marine-bio route, instead of solving the problem, she'd end up in the same position four years from now.  In addition, if she hasn't had exposure to the evolution-based material as an undergrad, she may have trouble with either getting into grad school (if the school feels her Creation-based undergrad education did not prepare her well enough) or succeeding once there (if her courses assume a basic familiarity with evolution-based material which she does not have).  Since she'll have to learn the material eventually, I don't see an advantage to avoiding it for four years, especially if it means that she won't have the education she wants (marine biology) in the meantime.  She can always read up on the Creation perspective on various topics on her own.   

[creekland]

When my guy was looking for Marine options the only Christian school he found (at least near the water and in the south) that sort of had one was Palm Beach Atlantic.  They still taught evolution in their science classes, so it won't likely work for you if that's what you want to avoid, but it is a strong Christian school in general.

 

In the end, my guy opted to go to what we felt was the top undergrad program in Marine Science - Eckerd.  It's affiliated with the Presbyterian church, but is definitely not a Christian school by any measurable standard.  There is, however, a very strong program there and a nice Christian group he attends.  He's since switched his major to something he likes better, but I'll give a shout out to their program as being at or near the top if your daughter wants to head the Marine studies route.

 

I'd seriously wonder if any student at a Creation only college would get accepted to a traditional grad program in any Bio type of major since folks in that major would wonder if the foundational knowledge were there.  Knowing about evolution shouldn't be a threat to anyone TBH.

[Crimson Wife]

CSU Long Beach is supposed to have a good marine bio program. The classes would be taught from an evolutionary standpoint but she doesn't have to accept that POV. She would need to know what the theory states but she could couch her answers in "most scientists believe _____" language and it would be fine. One of my friends from college was an Evangelical Protestant who was a bio major (she ultimately went into sports medicine) and that's what she did.

[Guest Faith021]

Thanks everyone this was very helpful! Maybe a secular school wouldn't be too bad as long as we find a good environment that has christian influence.... But yeah she can learn about evolution without having to give up christian beliefs cause I guess it is pretty huge in natural sciences and would be hard to avoid. 

[Bluegoat]

Thanks everyone this was very helpful! Maybe a secular school wouldn't be too bad as long as we find a good environment that has christian influence.... But yeah she can learn about evolution without having to give up christian beliefs cause I guess it is pretty huge in natural sciences and would be hard to avoid. 

 

Lots of Christians do believe in evolution.  I hope your daughter realizes that - it isn't uncommon to see people who think the two are incompatible and so leave their faith behind.

[albeto.]

nm 

 

Edited February 16, 2016 by Susan Wise Bauer
Yeah, another violation of forum rules, which someone posted below.

[Dmmetler]

My DD's bio mentor strongly suggests avoiding creation-only schools OR schools that have a perception of being potentially creation only based on their denominational affiliation if you want to go to grad school in biology. The assumption tends to be that such students are poorly prepared for graduate work, and they have a much harder path when it comes to getting accepted and getting funding support. Also, having seen the tracks at DD's Herpetology/Icthyology joint meetings, I can say that in those two fields a huge percentage of the research right now is in phylogenetics. Not having a strong background in evolutionary biology would knock a student completely out of that research path themselves, and make it hard to understand a lot of what is being published when doing a literature survey.

[Rai B.]

University of San Diego has a Marine Science Major.
The school is Catholic, but I’ve known non-Catholic Christians who went there and were fine. It might work as a compromise choice.

[Susan Wise Bauer]

Responses to deleted post were removed. Kinsa's post left since it explains the deletion.

 

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SWB