FSML:Expansion and Enhancement of Analytical Facilities at the Shannon Point Marine Center

华盛顿大学西部的香农角海洋中心(SPMC)位于普吉特湾盆地北部，地理位置优越，提供了从大陆直接进入各种海洋生物和河口栖息地的通道，这些生境支撑着丰富多样的生物群。地理位置和设施为沿海流域和湿地的生产力、营养循环和再生、微生物生态和底栖生物新陈代谢以及当地鱼类、无脊椎动物和海洋植物物种的生活史现象等面向过程的研究提供了独特的机会。SPMC积极参与本科生和理学硕士的学术项目，包括作为高年级课程的站点，并支持广泛的本科生和研究生研究。学生既来自国内机构，也来自全国各地的学院和大学。本科生计划包括本科生研究经验、少数族裔海洋科学本科生计划和科学教育与研究本科生计划。为了促进研究和培训，SPMC开发了一个访问者和远程调查人员可以访问的数据库。通过与附近的帕迪拉湾国家河口研究保护区合作，太平洋岛屿委员会确定了一些可支持该区域长期研究的示范研究地点，特别是在西海岸河口异常广泛的海草群落方面。为了对这些社区的调查提供额外的重点，既能为生产性合作研究提供基础，又能解决当地和区域管理方面的关切，SPMC正在开发一个适当的实地和分析设施基地。随着两艘新的研究船的增加，SPMC具备了进行现场实地调查的良好装备。然而，由于近年来研究和培训活动的大幅增加，分析实验室的空间已经成为一个严重的限制因素。为了继续对地球化学和生物化学过程进行研究，并满足来访研究人员的兴趣，太平洋生物医学中心将翻新现有的实验室空间，并将其适当地布置为额外的分析实验室，从而使可用于这一目的的空间增加一倍。该委员会还将购买目前没有的新的分析和辅助仪器，以提高研究设施的能力。

Western Washington University's Shannon Point Marine Center(SPMC) is strategically located in the northern Puget Sound basin, providingdirect access from the mainland to a wide variety of marine and estuarinehabitats that support a rich and diverse biota. The location and facilities providedistinctive opportunities for process-oriented research on productivity of coastalwatersheds and wetlands, nutrient cycling and regeneration, microbial ecology, andbenthic metabolism and on life history phenomena of local fish, invertebrate,and marine plant species. SPMC is actively involved in both undergraduate and Master's of Science academic programs including serving as a site for upper division courses and supporting extensive undergraduate and graduate research. Students come from both the home institution and from colleges and universities from around the country. Programs for undergraduates include Research Experiences for Undergraduates, the Minorities in Marine Science Undergraduate Program and the Science Education and Research Undergraduate program. To promote research andTraining, SPMC has developed a database accessible to visitors and remote investigators. In cooperation with the nearby Padilla Bay National EstuarineResearch Reserve, SPMC has identified a number of model study sites that can supportlong-term research in the region, particularly with respect to seagrass communitiesthat are unusually extensive for west coast estuaries. In order to provide additionalfocus to investigations of these communities that can both provide the basis forproductive collaborative research and address local and regional managementconcerns, SPMC is developing an appropriate field and analytical facilities base.With the addition of two new research vessels SPMC is well-equipped to pursueon-site field investigations. Because of greatly increased research and trainingactivity in recent years, however, analytical laboratory space has become a severelylimiting factor. In order to pursue studies of geochemical and biochemicalprocesses and to accommodate the interests of visiting investigators, SPMCwill renovate and properly furnish existing laboratory space for use as anadditional analytical laboratory, thus doubling available space for this purpose.SPMC will also purchase new analytical and support instrumentation not presentlyavailable that will enhance the facilities capacity for research.