About > Location

Our graduate programs are located at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC), approximately 75 miles south of The University of Southern Mississippi main campus (Hattiesburg, MS). All undergraduate programs are located at the Long Beach Campus. 

 

SSC Information Corridor

Stennis Space Center is a secure facility; visitors are encouraged to contact us 48hrs. in advance of their visit so that we can assist them with security clearance. Email marine.science@usm.edu if you need a visitors pass. 

More oceanographers and hydrographers work at SSC than any other location in the world.SSC is a unique national resource with its complex of state, federal, and private-sector entities. The following are a list of key activities that happen right here and the agencies that call SSC home:

• NASA tests engines for the space program
• U.S. Navy's oceanographic data repository and processing center
• One of the Department of Defense's four major shared resource centers for supercomputing.
• U.S. Navy activities are coordinated through three important naval operations located at SSC: the Commander of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC), the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO), and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).
• NASA's remote sensing, technology transfer, and commercialization programs
• NOAA's National Data Buoy Center (NDBC)
• NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Office
• U.S. Geological Survey's - Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility

Valuable Resources

The combination of these organizations in one location not only makes SSC a unique facility, it also means that SSC operations play an important role in the nation's security. It also is a unique resource for the DMS. Scientists from on-site organizations serve as adjunct faculty members, providing support and projects for students and teaching some classes. DMS personnel additionally have access to the Maury Library at SSC, which houses one of the largest collections of oceanographic materials in the world.

 

Quality of Life

The remote location of SSC also means that many services are provided on-site including banks, cafeteria and snack bar, gas station, fitness center, dry cleaners, and an excellent day care facility. Students, faculty, and staff live in several surrounding communities, the closest of which is about 20 miles from SSC. One can live in the Mississippi Gulf Coast cities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, and Picayune. Other people live across the state line in Slidell, LA., which is only a half hour drive from New Orleans.