The MESP brings
together resources of the Biology
Department, the Department of
Environmental Sciences , the Shannon Point
Marine Center, and other University programs such as Wilson Library
and Scientific Technical Services. The MESP faculty, whose interests span
a wide range of topics normally associated with marine biology and
oceanographic processes, comprise a key resource for the program.
The University's location provides an extraordinary opportunity for
coastal marine and estuarine research. The coastal inland waters of
Washington State, bounded by Puget Sound to the south, the mainland to the
east, and Vancouver Island to the north and west, harbor a rich diversity
of marine habitats and biota. The mainland and islands of the San Juan
Archipelago provide rocky shoreline, protected lagoons, and high-energy
intertidal beaches. The nearby Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve encompasses 11,000 acres of wetlands, seagrass beds, and mudflats.
The channels and straits of the region provide muddy, rocky, and sandy
flats, as well as trenches of depths up to 100 meters. The State ferry
system provides ready access to the San Juan Islands and the Olympic
Peninsula, with its spectacular alpine, temperate rain forest, and open
ocean beach environments. The wide variety of macroalgae, crustaceans,
echinoderms, and molluscs, as well as other invertebrates and fish, will
be
of special interest to marine biologists. Diverse avian and marine mammal
fauna also characterize the region. These living marine resources support
a variety of opportunities for marine biological research.
Opportunities for process-oriented research are equally attractive. Local
estuaries are characterized by small spatial scales, providing rapid
transition from fresh to saline waters and are subject to impact by small
urban areas, logging and other dramatic land use transformations, as well
as aluminum and petroleum refining. These natural systems, combined with
outstanding analytical facilities, permit study and research on nutrient
cycling, productivity, biogeochemistry, microbial ecology and water
quality issues.
The Shannon Point Marine Center (SPMC), located in Anacortes, WA, about 40
miles south of the main campus, is an important facility supporting the
Marine and Estuarine Science Program. The Marine Center occupies an
87-acre campus with 3,000 feet of beachfront on Guemes Channel. The
principal facility is the three-story, 24,000 square foot Marine Education
Center/Sundquist Marine Laboratory complex housing research labs, teaching
labs and administrative offices. Research laboratories include wet
laboratories supported by a running seawater system feeding 30 seawater
tables and dry laboratories suited for analytical operations. An Academic
Program Building includes fully networked computer facilities and a
lecture hall. A standard array of laboratory equipment is available at
Shannon Point, including diode-array spectrophotometers, high performance
liquid chromatographs (HPLC), gas chromatographs, autoanalyzer, CHNS
analyzer, spectroradiometer, an advanced image analysis system, and a
radioisotope laboratory. The Marine Center's research vessel fleet
includes the 26-ft. RV FAUNA, the 31-ft. RV FLORA and the new 32-ft.
inboard-powered RV ZOEA. All are specially designed for fast transport to
study
sites, accessing shallow habitats and supporting SCUBA activity.
The lab has also recently acquired a small ROV. On-site
housing provides space for 24 persons.
Both the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Biology Department
are well equipped to support their existing M.S. degree programs
in biology and environmental science respectively. These resources are
fully available to support MESP students. Scientific Technical Services
handles repair and maintenance of research electronic and optical
equipment, supervises in the use of instrumentation, and assures the
availability of certain instrumentation whose costs or complexity prevents
duplication. At present, Scientific Technical Services maintains an ion
chromatograph, HPLC, total organic carbon analyzer, atomic absorption
spectrometer, infrared spectrometer, NMR spectrometer, X-ray diffraction
spectrometer, and a scanning electron microscope. |
|
 |
