Note from the Director
The exciting times for the Marine Science Center and the Urban Coastal Sustainability Initiative (UCSI) continue! Where to begin? First, it is important to highlight that the MSC is now part of a new unit, the Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences (MES). The merging MSC faculty with faculty from the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences formed this new department and we are excited about how our combined expertise will enhance our academic and research capabilities and their positive impacts on our students.
MES has also experienced unprecedented growth in its faculty thanks to six new hires in the past year. These outstanding faculty will bring expertise to our department in the areas of climate change science and policy, ocean acidification, spatial ecology and ecological modeling, marine ecology, coral reef biology, and environmental sensing and robotics. For example, Dr. Brian Helmuth will serve as the Director of the Sustainable Science and Policy Initiative, which seeks to forge stronger collaborations that yield effective outcomes for science-based policy. Too often, these disciplines operate in isolation of one another yet productive collaboration is key to achieving real sustainability. The ongoing debate about New England’s fisheries stocks and current harvest quotas are a perfect example of how this initiative contribute to an issue that is important to the region’s economy and environmental health.
As has been the case in recent years, I would be remiss if I did not mention all of the construction projects taking place at the MSC. We have completely renovated the East Wing to create a new office area that will house 14 faculty, 4 staff and a conference room. We have also finally broken ground on our new seawater delivery facility and continue to build outstanding research labs for our new faculty in the Edwards Laboratory. When all is said and done, we will have completely renovated about 80% of Edwards.
We have come a long way in a short time and even bigger things lay ahead. We very much appreciate your continued support and hope you will stop by to see all of these exciting changes in person.
Cheers,
Geoffrey C. Trussell
Chair, Department of Marine and Enviromental Sciences
Director, Marine Science Center