FSML: Research Space for the Marine Biological Laboratory's Marshview Field Station

Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole MA

Investigators

Abstract

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is awarded a grant to expand its facilities at the Marshview Field Station near Plum Island Sound, north of Boston. Research in the Plum Island area includes research on the surrounding watersheds, as well as the estuarine areas and extensive tidal marshes. The Plum Island marshes are considered to be among the largest and most important salt marshes left in New England. In addition to supporting major commercial and recreational finfish and shellfish fisheries, the region is a world-renowned habitat for migratory birds. The site attracts researchers from all over the country and is home to the Plum Island Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research site. The proposed project will build an addition onto an existing barn and thereby increase the field laboratory space by 1,345 ft2 more than tripling the space currently available, and also provide space that is ADA compliant. The project will seal the shell of the existing barn to make it weather tight and provide for improvements in the lighting, plumbing and the electrical service. This will allow researchers to use the barn for dry storage, refrigerators, and freezers. The improvements will also provide year-round heated space for the computers that support automated instrumentation in the area. The server is currently in unheated space off site. Completion of this project will significantly improve the ability of researchers to use the site, allow the MBL to continue to broaden its research base, and facilitate cross-site comparisons by incorporating more scientists and students from other institutions into research and education at Plum Island. The renovations will also greatly enhance the educational and outreach components of our program by: 1) allowing undergraduate and graduate students from different programs to interact; 2) providing laboratory space sufficient for University classes to use the site for overnight field trips during the spring and fall; 3) providing basic lab space for our educational activities, which include K-12 and high school teacher training, 4) renovating in an environmentally sound manner, thereby strengthening our outreach activities to the general public, which focus on the impacts of human water use and sewage disposal in the watershed. For more information about the Marshview Field Station, please visit http://pie-lter.ecosystems.mbl.edu/content/research-facilities.