Stay local, earn an associate's degree and transfer to Oregon Institute of Marine Biology
Students at Southwestern Oregon Community College no longer have to choose between staying close to home and studying marine biology at a top-tier program. Thanks to a new partnership with the University of Oregon, they can do both.
Southwestern's new Associate of Science (AS) in Marine Biology gives students a direct path to the University of Oregon's Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB) in Charleston. It's one of the premier marine science programs on the West Coast with a campus built specifically for hands-on marine science, right on the water.
Students spend their first two years at Southwestern earning their AS degree, then transfer to OIMB as juniors to complete their Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology. The degree also meets transfer degree requirements, so it transfers smoothly to any Oregon public university, and it lays a foundation for students considering medical, dental, or veterinary school instead.
It's a big deal, and a long time coming. Southwestern and OIMB have tried to build a program like this over the past three decades without success. That makes this launch — the result of close collaboration starting in May 2024 — worth celebrating.
The program welcomed its first students in the 2025/2026 academic year, and the response was immediate: twenty-five students declared the new major in that first fall term alone.
The first two students on the SWOCC to UO/OIMB pathway will start at OIMB this fall!
After completing their degree through OIMB, graduates are prepared for careers with state and federal agencies, research and teaching positions, or graduate study leading to master’s and doctoral degrees.
For students like Izzy McCabe and Ava Bolster featured here, the new degree has already opened doors to research and internships. With a clear pathway now in place, Southwestern expects many more to follow.
Faculty Spotlight
Amy Burgess @ SWOCC
Amy Burgess is Assistant Professor of Biology at Southwestern, covering the Principles of Biology series, Practical Ecology, Oceanography, and Marine Biology.
Originally from Alpine, Utah, Burgess earned a bachelor's degree in Integrative Biology from Brigham Young University, where a spring semester at OIMB gave her a taste of the Southern Oregon Coast's marine habitats. She earned a master's in Marine and Estuarine Science from Western Washington University, then pursued doctoral coursework at OIMB, including deep-sea fieldwork aboard research vessels and a dive in the ALVIN submersible in the Gulf of Mexico. Her research has spanned work in marine and freshwater ecosystems.
"This new program gives students the opportunity to get their feet wet, literally and figuratively, in local marine habitats," Burgess said.
Maya Watts @ OIMB
Maya Watts is an Associate Teaching Professor and the Education Program Coordinator at the University of Oregon’s Marine Laboratory, the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. She teaches courses in Invertebrate Zoology and Coastal Habitats, in addition to advising marine biology majors and organizing OIMB’s academic programs. Watts earned her PhD from the University of Oregon working on host-parasite relationships and larval biology of Oregon intertidal invertebrates.
After participating in research on invertebrate assemblages on deep-water canyons off the east coast of the U.S. she returned to OIMB. "It’s been a pleasure collaborating with SWOCC’s advising and administrative team to get the AS in Marine Biology started, and create a pathway to make our marine biology degrees more accessible to local students," Watts said.
Student Internship Spotlight
Izzy McCabe
Izzy McCabe didn't come to Southwestern for a marine biology degree. It didn’t exist yet. She enrolled anyway, taking a chance on a program she knew was in the works. That bet paid off. This year, McCabe is one of the first two graduates of Southwestern's new Associate of Science in Marine Biology.
McCabe grew up in Derby, Kansas, about as far from tide pools as you can get. Her path started at a swim meet, where she spotted the Southwestern Swim Team and got curious. She wanted a small school, in a small coastal town, with both a swim team and marine biology program. Southwestern fit.
Her love of marine life goes back to childhood summers at her grandmother's house in Florida, where she developed a fondness for invertebrates over larger, flashier animals. Research convinced her that the Pacific Northwest, not Florida, was where she wanted to study.
This fall, she enters the University of Oregon's Institute of Marine Biology as a junior through Southwestern's articulated degree path – a program with a research focus on marine invertebrates that lines up with her interests.
This summer, she's getting a head start through an internship with the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, studying the invasive European 5-spine green crab. Thanks to Dr. Shon Schooler, research coordinator at the South Slough, SWOCC interns have been working alongside the science team there for three years running.
Coming from Kansas, this was just an idea. The internship has proved my passion and career can be the same thing. Waking early, crawling through mud, counting crabs, and knowing I'm living the life my younger self dreamed about.
Ava Bolster
Ava Bolster is entering her third year at Southwestern this fall, though not on the path she originally imagined. She switched her major from Theatre Arts to Marine Biology, a shift that's taken her all the way to Washington, D.C. Bolster grew up in Gold Beach and is spending her summer as a Special Events and Public Programming Intern with the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
The opportunity came through Southwestern geology professor Dr. Win McLaughlin, who forwarded Bolster an email from the Smithsonian's rural outreach program seeking student nominations. The process moved fast and drew stiff competition. More than 70 educators across the country submitted student recommendations for the internship, which accepts just 10 percent of applicants, with only one or two rural students selected per state.
In her role, Bolster helps prepare event surveys and after-action reports, tours the park to assess venues, and sits in on everything from zookeeper webinars to Association of Zoos and Aquariums symposiums. She's used the internship to build relationships with keepers and learn about animal care. This experience is helping move her toward her goal of a future career in conservation and animal husbandry, maybe even someday with the Smithsonian itself.
I’m a first-generation college student and I’m very grateful that a small-town kid, let alone a woman in STEM, has been offered this opportunity. This internship has allowed me to connect with some amazing scientists and staff members for life.
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