University of Texas Marine Science Institute 750 Channel View Drive Port Aransas, TX 78373

The Marine Science Institute is dedicated to the three primary functions of a major university (education, research, and service) as they apply to the Texas coastal zone. It is an organized research unit of the University of Texas at Austin and emphasizes both basic and applied research aimed at understanding the biological, chemical, and physical processes governing the coastal zone ecosystem.

The Institute's 83,000 sq. ft. central complex is located on 72 acres of beach-front land and consists of a series of interconnected buildings containing laboratories, classrooms, televideo instruction room, offices, a library, museum, exhibit halls, visitor's center, auditorium, seminar rooms, and workshops.

A 10,000 sq. ft. wet-laboratory is supplied with filtered running seawater. Other structures on the grounds of the Institute include 9,500 sq. ft. of dormitories, a cafeteria, physical plant complex, garages, greenhouses, walk-in freezers, and several outdoor pool/habitat tanks. The five-acre boat basin provides quick access for our research vessels to both the bay systems and the Gulf of Mexico. The basin has been certified as a Clean Texas Marina by voluntarily adopting practices and measures to control pollution and to embrace the conservation ethic of individual responsibility for healthy land and water. The Institute's Wetlands Education Center is a 3.75-acre complex of marsh and dune habitats on site. It provides a unique opportunity for visitors and school groups to learn about the value of wetlands.

A research pier allows direct access for research projects in the Aransas Pass tidal inlet connecting the Gulf with the bays. This 300 foot pier has a 1200 sq. ft. lab at its base and a 150 sq. ft. instrument room on the end. The terminus of the pier and instrument room house a weather station, tide gauge, current meter, and sensors for water temperature and salinity, all of which are transmitted to real time data displays in the Visitor's Center and main laboratory. The pier also has an electric winch for deploying sampling equipment such as plankton nets and large-mesh tide traps to study fluxes of biota through the inlet.

A mile west of the main building complex, the Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory (FAML) occupies 26,000 sq. ft. of buildings on 10 acres adjacent to the ship channel. This facility includes four large laboratories which provide for temperature and photoperiod control. The FAML complex provides facilities for research on spawning and rearing of marine finfish and crustaceans and affords unique opportunities for research utilizing captive animals. Both the main laboratories and the FAML facility have office and laboratory space available for visiting scientists.

The Institute also manages the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Mission-Aransas Reserve is a 185,708 acre contiguous complex of wetland, terrestrial, and marine environments. The land is primarily coastal prairie with unique oak motte habitats. The wetlands include riparian habitat, and freshwater and salt water marshes. Within the water areas, the bays are large, open, and include extensive wind tidal flats, seagrass meadows, mangroves, and oyster reefs.

The research unit of the University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute emphasizes both basic and applied research aimed at understanding the biological, chemical and physical processes governing the coastal zone ecosystem.

The Department of Marine Science, the academic counterpart of the Marine Science Institute, offers graduate and upper-division undergraduate courses at the Institute in the summer, and a limited number of courses during the fall and spring semesters. The Department offers M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in Marine Science. Graduate students normally spend an academic year on the Austin campus after which they take specialized marine courses and conduct thesis and dissertation research at the Institute. The School of Biological Sciences offers a B.S. degree in Marine and Freshwater Biology, which includes many courses offered by the Department of Marine Science.

The Marine Education Services is multi-functional outreach facility promoting interest in Marine Science through educational programs for teachers, students and the general public.