Monterey Bay Aquarium and MBARI Launch Center for Ocean Solutions

To address these and other major threats to the marine environment, Stanford University, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) have joined forces to create the Center for Ocean Solutions, a new collaboration that will bring together international experts in marine science and policy to find innovative ways to protect and restore the world’s oceans.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation provided a $25 million grant to establish the new center in Monterey, Calif., near the Monterey Bay Aquarium—one of the world’s top aquariums, with more than 42 million visitors since 1984—and Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, the oldest marine research lab on the West Coast. MBARI, a leading independent oceanographic research institution, is located in Moss Landing, Calif., about 20 miles to the north.

“It is with great pleasure that Stanford joins two world-class institutions, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and MBARI, to establish the Center for Ocean Solutions—a unique forum where marine scholars can develop effective solutions to one of the most critical environmental problems of the 21st century,” Stanford President John Hennessy said. “Stanford is widely recognized for its broad range of marine scholarship in biology, aquaculture, environmental law and many other fields. But the problems we face—from polluted shorelines to collapsing fisheries—are so complex that they will only be solved by engaging in new collaborations that extend beyond the university.”

Although based in California, the center will confront problems that affect oceans worldwide, including climate change and overfishing. Recent studies warn that unless global warming is brought under control and the seas are managed in a sustainable way, most of the world’s commercial fisheries will collapse within 50 years, along with the majority of coral reef and mangrove ecosystems.