Coastal Carolina University's Department of Marine Science will host Marine Science for Junior Scholars, a two-week summer program for 42 rising ninth and 10th graders from throughout South Carolina, from June 19 to 30. Participants will be housed in residence halls on the Coastal campus.

The program, in its 11th year, is designed to help high school students develop an appreciation and understanding of the coastal environment and an awareness of marine-related issues currently facing society.

Class topics include: marine biological communities, marine and salt marsh ecology, fisheries and aquaculture, sea level change and beach erosion, geological cycles, marine chemistry, waves and coastal currents, and coastal zone management and environmental issues.

In addition to classroom discussion, students will participate in numerous field surveys of estuarine, beach and coastal environments; collecting and studying open ocean samples aboard the Coastal II, the university's 43-foot research vessel; and taking chemical and biological laboratory analysis of samples collected in the field.

Students will conduct research at Huntington Beach State Park and Waites Island, a pristine barrier island near Little River, S.C.

The program is designed for students who have been recognized as Junior Scholars by the South Carolina State Department of Education. Junior Scholars are chosen during their eighth-grade year based on their high scholastic achievement.

Coastal's Marine Science for Junior Scholars program participants are selected from the state's Junior Scholars based on a letter of recommendation from one of their teachers and two essays written by the students which describe their interest in the program and the importance of the coastal environment.

For more information, contact Michelle Hardee, assistant director of Marine Science for Junior Scholars, at 349-2920.