About the teacher

Hi, my name is Liza Baskin-Arboleda (most students just call me Ms. Baskin) and this is my 15th year teaching at MAST. I primarily teach two courses here at MAST, Oceanography and Marine Research. Oceanography is 5 credits here at MAST, but as part of my adjunct professor status at Brookdale community college, MAST students can also get 4 credits at Brookdale or Stockton College. Marine Research is my favorite class and is the chance for MASTies to do some independent, high level research. It is challenging, frustrating at times, and ultimately very rewarding, both for students and for me. The Marine Research class, has taken many students to the Science Fair and Symposia circuit where MAST has done well. It is amazing to see scientists respond so well to our research done here at MAST.

I started college at the University of the Philippines, in lovely Los Banos, Laguna majoring in Biology and Marine science but finished at good old Rutgers University with a BS in Marine science (specialty Biological Oceanography). My graduate work has been in Environmental Biology at Georgian Court University where my thesis is on Coastal Dune Ecology.

Before teaching I have worked in marine science at NJ Sea Grant Consortium, NOAA, Rutgers, and so on. In 2010 I had the opportunity to work aboard the NOAA ship the RV Henry B. Bigelow, testing water samples at the wellhead of the BP Macondo MC-252 Oil spill.

Marine science, and marine research in particular are both my occupation and my passion, this is probably why besides teaching it, I co-coach the Ocean Bowl team.

The NOAA splash page during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Upper right hand corner is a photo of Dr. Ashok Deshpande, NOAA chemist and Liza Baskin, MAST Oceanography teacher.

The DSV (Deep Submersible Vehicle) Alvin and I. I was lucky enough to be able to see it while it was briefly in port at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute before boarding the RV Bigelow for a research cruise in the summer of 2015.