FSML Laboratory and Field Mesocosms for Ocean Acidification Research

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The University of Washington is awarded a grant to build a new facility at Friday Harbor Laboratories (http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/)for experimental study of ocean acidification and its influence on temperate marine organisms and ecosystems. The proposed facility will include in-water mesocosms for large-scale experimental manipulations, laboratory aquarium systems, and an analytical laboratory for essential carbon parameters to support experimentation. The facility will serve as a national center for the study of ocean acidification in temperate environments, allowing investigators and students from across the country (and international collaborators) to test the response of marine organisms to changes in pH and carbonate saturation in an environmentally-relevant setting. The facility will catalyze significant new collaborations in research and teaching focused on the interactions between biogeochemistry and near-shore temperate ecosystems in a changing ocean. Ocean acidification is of strong national and international interest. The European Community has just approved a new 5-year program of research on ocean acidification, and the U.S. agencies have made this a priority for new research funding. FHL is located in an area that is likely to be among the first and hardest hit by acidification impacts, with implications for commercial fisheries. This will be one of a few sheltered sites with oceanic waters that could host such a capability, and the only one at a U.S. institution. This U.S. mesocosm facility will enable research that links individual organism responses to full ecosystem responses and impact assessments for fisheries. The proposed facility will contribute directly to FHL's undergraduate research apprenticeship program, graduate student research and graduate research courses. The project also includes a K-12 component, with outreach to regional schools at all levels, including a new NSF GK-12 Program beginning summer 2008. Finally, this facility will contribute to the activities of citizen-driven marine resource committees organized in seven Washington counties surrounding the Straits of Juan de Fuca, Georgia Strait, and Admiralty Inlet to the Canadian border.