Student Participation & Course Requirements

Program Course Requirements

Required readings Papers suggested by each week’s speaker will be made available as pdf copies through the program website the week prior to each lecture.  Students are required to read the designated papers before speakers' presentations.

Seminar and round-table discussion section Students are required to attend the weekly seminar Thursdays from 1:30-2:30 in Clark 507 (or TBD location) as well as a separate weekly discussion section with the visiting speaker also on Thursdays from 4:00 - 5:00pm in the Carriage House (or Fenno conference room for virtual speakers), to discuss speaker’s topic, presentation, suggested readings, etc.  Please come prepared to contribute to an engaging conversation!

Student/Speaker Lunches

On seminar Thursdays, prior to the guest speaker’s presentation at 1:30pm, we will ask 2-4 students enrolled in the course to join the speaker for lunch from 12 -1pm in the Buttery, with the program covering the expense.  This is a great opportunity for students to have some quality time with our guest speakers.

Group Dinner Parties
We traditionally host visiting guest speakers to an informal dinner party in someone’s home the evening after each seminar.  Anyone at WHOI including students are welcome to host these dinner parties.  The program covers all food and beverage costs, excluding alcohol.  Take out has been a carefree option for many hosts, although this is a good opportunity to show off one’s culinary skills. Guest speakers are surprised and flattered by this friendly and relaxed reception and it's a great way to get to know one's colleagues better and network with other institutions.

If you are interested in hosting any of these dinner gatherings for our guest speakers please contact Meg Gresh, margaret.gresh@whoi.edu or this year's science organizers.

The number of required lunches and dinners is determined by the number of students enrolled and will be communicated at the beginning of the course.

Program Activities that Students are encouraged to participate in but not required

Study Tour
The Geodynamics Program sponsors a study tour during the summer following the spring semester.  Participating in the study tour is optional.  Students coming on the study tour will research some aspect or feature that will be seen in the field (instructors can give students a better idea once we finalize the visiting sites).

The Study Tour to accompany this year’s Geodynamics Seminar Series will be to Northern California, starting and ending in San Francisco and working north across the Golden Gate Bridge to study uplifted ocean crust and mantle rocks, the hot springs that they host - pertinent to the search for life beyond Earth, and taking advantage of other cultural opportunities specific to the area.  We plan for the Study Tour to also include an opportunity to visit the Center for Life Detection at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley.”