海洋科学是一个高度跨学科的领域，需要了解和应用基础科学，包括生物学，物理学和化学。特别是，海洋科学专业为学生提供了基本生物学以及海洋物理学和化学方面的扎实背景。高年级选修课允许每位学生对特定种类的生物（微生物，藻类，海洋无脊椎动物，鱼类和海洋哺乳动物）和栖息地（盐沼，潮间带岩石，潮间带，隔离岛，沙丘，河口和海洋生物）有更深入的了解。开放的海洋）。海洋与大气科学学院（SoMAS）是石溪大学的海洋，大气和环境科学教育，研究和公共服务中心。SoMAS内设有海洋科学研究中心（MSRC）和地球与行星大气研究所（IT
Marine Sciences is a highly interdisciplinary field requiring an understanding and application of basic science, including biology, physics, and chemistry. In particular, the Marine Sciences major provides students with a solid background in basic biology as well as in the physics and chemistry of the ocean. Upper-division electives permit each student to gain a deeper understanding of particular groups of organisms (microorganisms, algae, marine invertebrates, fish, and marine mammals) and of habitats (salt marshes, rocky intertidal, barrier islands, dunes, estuaries, and the open ocean). The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) is Stony Brook University's center for education, research, and public service in the ocean, atmospheric, and environmental sciences. Housed within the SoMAS are the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) and the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres (ITPA). MSRC is the only state-designated center for marine research, education, and public outreach within the State University of New York system. The SoMAS is one of the nation's leading coastal oceanographic and atmospheric institutions, and the expertise of the SoMAS faculty places SBU at the forefront of addressing and answering questions about regional environmental problems, as well as problems relating to the global ocean and atmosphere. The primary focus of the SoMAS faculty is on fundamental research designed to increase understanding of the processes that characterize the coastal ocean and the atmosphere. The SoMAS is also committed to applying the results of research to solve problems arising from society's uses and misuses of the environment. The SoMAS includes mission-oriented institutes in several major areas: the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres, the Living Marine Resources Institute, the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science, the Long Island Groundwater Resource Institute, and the Waste Reduction and Management Institute. These institutes and many research projects add a wealth of varied resources to education and research at Stony Brook.