The Institute of Marine Science conducts marine science studies in the world’s oceans, with special emphasis on Arctic and Pacific sub-Arctic waters.

Research efforts cover a wide range of disciplines in oceanography, marine biology and fisheries and include leadership of regional programs on marine ecosystems as well as components of national and international cooperative programs. Institute of Marine Science researchers also participate in the broad marine science community through service on a variety of national and international committees and organizations.

The faculty offer degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels through the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Research facilities include laboratories on the Troth Yeddha' campus in Fairbanks; fisheries laboratories at Lena Point in Juneau; the Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, a marine biology field station on Kachemak Bay that is co-managed with NOAA; the Seward Marine Center, a major coastal facility in Seward; and the 261-foot global class, ice-strengthened Research Vessel Sikuliaq, which has its home port in Seward. The Seward Marine Center supports a high-quality seawater system and excellent biological and chemical laboratories as well as facilities for constructing and maintaining seagoing equipment such as moorings. The Alaska SeaLife Center, a private, state-of-the-art mammal and bird research and exhibition facility adjacent to the Seward Marine Center, also offers outstanding research facilities and hosts faculty of the Institute of Marine Science.

Institute of Marine Science formal collaborative research programs include Long-term Ecological Research Programs in the Northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA LTER) and in the Beaufort Sea lagoon ecosystems (BLE LTER); Gulf Watch Alaska; the international MOSAiC expedition in the Arctic Ocean; Ocean Acidification Research Center; and affiliations with the EPSCoR Fire and Ice program and the Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies. Examples of topics addressed by individual research labs are the development of underwater glider capabilities and other instruments; cycling of trace metals in the ocean; effects of climate change on marine food webs; marine mammal ecology; fisheries genetics; commercial fisheries management; and seaweed mariculture.

For more information, visit the Institute of Marine Science website or call 907-474-7210.