The Hatfield Marine Science Center (HMSC) is a marine science research and education center next to Yaquina Bay of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. It is operated by

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering ...

in cooperation with five state and federal agencies co-located on site. Named after

Mark Hatfield Mark Odom Hatfield (July 12, 1922 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and educator from the state of Oregon. A Republican, he served for 30 years as a United States senator from Oregon, and also as chairman of the Senate Approp ...

, a former

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

from Oregon, the HMSC occupies a site in Newport.

History

The Hatfield Marine Science Center was opened in 1965. The center was preceded by the Yaquina Bay Fisheries Laboratory, which was established in 1939 on the opposite side of Yaquina Bay. After several years of development, the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building (MSB) was completed in winter 2019. The building hosts new office and laboratory space, a 250-seat auditorium and a cafe. The building provides a tsunami evacuation point for more than 900 people, including local residents, and it is designed to withstand a 9+ magnitude earthquake and an XXL tsunami event.

Organization

More than 300 people work at the HMSC, including Oregon State University faculty, graduate students, researchers, and staff from agencies including

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for programs protecting Oregon fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. The agency operates hatcheries, issues hunting an ...

, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon pro ...

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

, and the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditi ...

(NOAA). NOAA employees at the HMSC are affiliated with the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, or the

Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) is a federal laboratory in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). It is one of seven NOAA Research Laboratories (RLs). The PM ...

, all of which are headquartered in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

Visitor Center

Hatfield Marine Science Center Submarine

The Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center is the public education wing of the HMSC. The visitor center's exhibits focus on marine species, marine research, and the coastal environment. The visitor center offers public programs and tours and is open year-round. Admission is by donation. Live marine animals on display include a Giant Pacific octopus. The octopus can be viewed remotely through the live HMSC OctoCam. Other exhibits focus on weather,

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater exp ...

, commercial fishing, ocean resource management, microscopic sea life, and tide-pool creatures and habitats. The ''Newmas'', a locally built, 13 foot two-person submarine is on display outside the visitor center.

Education

Undergraduate and graduate students study at HMSC. The newly built Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building has been proposed to host year-round body of 500 undergraduate students.

Research Partnerships

RV Oceanus Newport Yaquina Bay Bridge Surface Mooring

HMSC hosts multiple research partnerships between Oregon State University and external organizations. The ''Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies (CIMRS)'' conducts interdisciplinary research covering fisheries science, aquaculture, marine ecosystems and climate, oceanography, geology, acoustics and marine-resource technology. In addition to HMSC employees, CIMRS involves staff from NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The ''Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station (COMES)'' is an agricultural research station dedicated to research and development for Oregon’s fishing, aquaculture and seafood, and helps to facilitate Oregon State University's service as a

land-grant university A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...

for coastal communities. COMES is the largest of 12 branch agricultural research stations in Oregon. COMES is also hosted at the Seafood Research & Education Center in Astoria. The ''Marine Mammal Institute (MMI)'' focuses on research on marine mammals, incorporating research on ecology, genetics, veterinary medicine, engineering, aquaculture, and communications. The ''Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center (NNMREC)'' is a collaboration between Oregon State University and the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

, and was founded with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. It is one of three Marine Renewable Energy centers for Oregon State University, with research focused on wave and tidal energy. The ''Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems (NANOOS)'' is a collaboration between Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which hosts oceanographic monitoring data collected at Yaquina Bay.

Research fleet

The OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences operates two research vessels out of the home port adjacent to the center. In addition, the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific (MOC-P), adjacent to HMSC, is also the home port for the NOAAS ''Bell M. Shimada'' and the NOAAS ''Rainier''. These research vessels are frequently used by HMSC staff.

Current vessels

* R/V ''Taani'' – 199 feet long, under construction * R/V ''Oceanus'' – 177 feet long * R/V ''Elakha'' – 54 feet long Original_Collection-_Historical_File,_OSU_(4616475709)

Retired vessels

* R/V ''Acona'' * R/V ''Cayuse'' – 80 feet long * R/V ''Wecoma'' – 184.5 feet long * R/V ''Yaquina'' – 180 feet long

People

Directors

* Bob Cowen 2013 – Present * George Boehlert 2002 – 2012 * Lavern Weber 1977 – 2002 * John Byrne 1972 – 1977

Notable faculty and staff (past and present)

* Scott Baker * Lisa Ballance * Michael Banks * Willy Breese * Wayne Burt *

Bill Chadwick William Leroy "The Big Whistle" Chadwick (October 10, 1915 – October 24, 2009) was the first US-born referee to serve in the National Hockey League (NHL). Despite being blind in his right eye, his on-ice officiating career spanned the greater p ...

* Louise Copeman * Christina DeWitt * Roland Dimick * R. Barry Fisher * Steve Hammond * Joe Haxel *

Joel Hedgpeth Joel Walker Hedgpeth (September 29, 1911 – July 28, 2006) was a marine biologist, environmentalist and author. He was an expert on the marine arthropods known as sea spiders (Pycnogonida), and on the seashore plant and animal life of southern ...

* Sarah Henkel * Scott Heppell * Selina Heppell * Robert Jacobson * Christopher Langdon * Cathy Lannan * Jim Lannan * Don Lyons * Bob Malouf * Bruce Mate * Haruyoshi Matsumoto * Bill McNeil * David Mellinger * Jessica Miller * George Mpitsos *

Bob Olson Bob Olson (Born May 1948) is a former American football player born in Superior, Wisconsin. He attended Notre Dame where he played linebacker between 1968 and 1969 and became team captain. In the 1970 Cotton Bowl Classic game against the Universit ...

Kathleen O'Malley Mary Kathleen O'Malley (March 31, 1924 – February 25, 2019) was an American film and television actress, who was the daughter of vaudevillian and actor Pat O'Malley. Her screen debut came during the silent film era as a thirteen month old bab ...

* Rachel Orben * Daniel Palacios * Jae W. Park * Marilyn Potts Guin * Anja Robinson * Shawn Rowe * Ivan Pratt * David Sampson * Su Sponagle * Rob Suryan * Gil Sylvia * Leigh Torres * George Waldbusser * Janet Webster * Will White * Bill Wick

Notable alumni

Rick Spinrad Richard William Spinrad is an American oceanographer and government official serving as the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He also concurrently serves as Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphe ...

, 11th Administrator of NOAA (2021-)

References

External links

Hatfield Marine Science Center websiteHMSC campus map
{{authority control Aquaria in Oregon Newport, Oregon Oregon State University Oregon State University buildings Biological research institutes in the United States Research institutes in Oregon Museums in Lincoln County, Oregon Natural history museums in Oregon Maritime museums in Oregon Laboratories in Oregon 1965 establishments in Oregon