06/23/2026
Spending a semester on an island diving and exploring the ocean may not sound like the typical college experience, but for some CSU students, it is very much a reality...
The CSU's Ocean Studies Institute (OSI) offers a series of marine biology courses during fall semesters at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center (WMSC) at Santa Catalina Island, where a small group of students live, take courses, and participate in various research projects. With access to pristine marine habitats, diverse marine life and state-of-the-art facilities, the Catalina Semester offers students a college experience like no other!
One student, and CSULB recent alum, Keira Spiller, told us a little about her amazing experience participating in the Catalina semester program and how much her CSULB journey was impacted by her research work:
"The focus of my research is kelp forest ecology, so the most exciting thing to experience during my time on Catalina was being able to interact directly with kelp forest ecosystems and research it! Being able to conduct my own field work as an undergraduate and physically learn and ask questions/develop my own hypotheses by observing the real-world sure beats learning in a classroom via textbook.
A typical day-in-the-life was waking up and eating a delicious breakfast and then planning who would want to join me on a small boating expedition for the morning to do surveys at different study sites. I would then captain a boat and we'd snorkel/free dive in beautiful kelp forests and collect my data for about 2-3 hours. I would then return the boat to Wrigley and eat lunch. Post lunch, I would make sure to go back out (either on a boat or by swimming depending on the study site) and collect data for another couple of hours. I would always finish most days with a wetsuit-free dunk in the ocean before having dinner and then inputting the data I collected from the day and read through science papers related to my topic!
Being involved in research as an undergraduate, especially in the field, has completely changed the way I view marine biology and what I aspire to do with my career. I feel so much more connected to the ocean and confident in my abilities to observe nature and ask testable questions about it! Research has also drastically improved my data analysis skills and abilities to communicate scientifically through talks/posters, both of which necessary for a career built on ocean research. Additionally, having been able to help out colleagues and all learn about the entire research process from asking questions to presenting, I feel I have close relations to other ocean-lovers who will be lifelong friends."
To learn more about the CSU Catalina semester, visit: https://www.csulb.edu/biological-sciences/marine-biology/catalina-semester
