The Smithsonian Marine Station is a research center specializing in marine biodiversity and ecosystems of south Florida. Research focuses on the Indian River Lagoon and the offshore waters of Florida's east central coast, with comparative studies throughout coastal Florida. The Station is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and serves as a field station which draws over 120 top scientists and students each year from the Smithsonian and collaborating institutions around the world. These scientists investigate the diversity of plants and animals and their associated habitats in the Indian River Lagoon and nearshore oceanic waters. Information uncovered at the Marine Station is published in scientific journals and forms the basis for effective public policies, conservation efforts and sustainable resource management.

The facilities at the Smithsonian Marine Station include laboratories for histology, electron microscopy, electrophoresis, DNA studies, a photographic darkroom, a small industrial shop, and offices and labs for individual scientists. Specialized equipment includes recirculating seawater systems, temperature-controlled aquaria and incubators, equipment for preparing tissues for light and electron microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopes, a confocal microscope, an ultra-cold freezer, equipment for electrophoresis, a thermocycler for DNA analyses, a high-performance liquid chromatograph, a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer, and a UV-visual spectrophotometer. There is also a wide variety of light microscopes and photographic, video and computer equipment. The Marine Station owns four boats for use in field studies: a 15' canoe, a 17' Boston Whaler, a 21’ Triumph center-console boat, and a converted 39' lobster boat for offshore work.

The Smithsonian Marine Station hosts a vigorous research program with 20 active projects emphasizing the biodiversity, life histories, and ecology of marine organisms. Projects on biodiversity focus on organisms such as algae and seagrasses, dinoflagellates, snails, echinoderms, hermit crabs, isopod, decapod and stomatopod crustaceans, and nemertean, nematode and polychaete worms. Life history studies include investigations of the developmental patterns of copepods, marine worms, and sea urchins, the larval biology of invertebrates, and the life history strategies of crabs. On the molecular level, research is being carried out on snails, sea urchins and bryozoans. Other projects concern the ecology of mangrove ecosystems, chemical ecology, studies of the impact of solar UV on aquatic plants, and long-term ecological studies on macroalgae, foraminifera, crabs, protists, and parasitology in snails. In addition, a resident research program has been initiated for a long-term ecosystem assessment of the Indian River Lagoon.

The Smithsonian Marine Station is dedicated to the increase and diffusion of knowledge in the marine sciences. Over 760 scientific publications have come from the research at the Station, including many reports in scientific journals, a guide to the algae and marine plants of Florida and the Caribbean, an educational video on meiofauna, and a handbook on the echinoderms of Florida and the Caribbean. Work at the Marine Station has been featured in Discover, Popular Science and Smithsonian magazines, and on network and public television both in the US and abroad. Each year, the Marine Station promotes the education of emerging scientists by offering research fellowships at the graduate or postgraduate level. The Station also collaborates with the local community college and school district in a dual enrollment program in marine science for high school students. As a resource for education, researchers and the public, the Marine Station maintains an online database that provides a species inventory of the plants and animals of the Indian River Lagoon. In 2001, the Smithsonian Marine Ecosystems Exhibit became a reality through cooperation with several governmental and educational organizations. Housed in the St. Lucie County Marine Center, the Exhibit is administered and maintained by the Smithsonian Marine Station. It features a 3,000 gallon live display of a coral reef ecosystem, an invertebrate touchtank, and several smaller displays showing the remarkable biodiversity of the Indian River Lagoon as well as near and offshore habitats. The aim is to provide students and visitors with new insights and better understanding of the undersea world.

Resident Staff: Dr. Valerie J. Paul, Director; Joan Kaminski, Administrative Officer; William (Woody) Lee, Research Technician; Julianne Piraino, Laboratory Manager; Sherry Reed, Research Technician; Hugh Reichardt, Station Manager; Dr. Mary E. Rice, Emeritus Research Scientist; Raphael Ritson-Williams, Research Technician; Dr. Bjorn Tunberg, Research Biologist; William Hoffman, Ecosystems Exhibit Manager; Bryan Olson, Ecosystems Exhibit Technician; Laura Diederick, Marine Education Specialist

Located on the Indian River Lagoon on Florida's central-Atlantic coast in Fort Pierce, the Smithsonian Marine Station is within easy reach of marine environments ranging from mangrove swamps and seagrass beds to estuaries and open ocean. Sixty miles north of West Palm Beach and 90 miles south of Cape Canaveral, it lies in a transitional zone between temperate and tropical habitats in an area inhabited by a high diversity of marine plants and animals.

Dr. Valerie Paul, Director Smithsonian Marine Station 701 Seaway Drive Fort Pierce, FL 34949 772-462-0982 paul@si.edu