The program at Rider University investigates and emphasizes the multiple feedback interactions among unicellular to vertebrate marine organisms, the physiochemistry of the water in which they live, and the substrates in and/or on which they dwell.

Typically, students who major in the Marine Sciences also double major or minor in one or more of the following programs: Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Geosciences, and Psychology (for marine mammel training).