The Monterey Bay Aquiarium and Rsearch Institute (MBARI) is a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California established by David Packard in 1987, and is funded almost entirely by the The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

They operate three research vessels (R/Vs): The  Point Lobos, Western Flyer and the R/V Zephyr - the primary support ship for the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) program.

Their R&D projects include biogeochemical cycles, effects of El Niño in Central California offshore waters, gas hydrates and methane venting, oceanic distribution and cycling of greenhouse gases, deep-sea benthic ecology, cold seeps, marine bacteria and viruses, molecular probes for rapid detection of toxic phytoplankton, midwater biological communities, continental margin tectonics and sub-seafloor fluid flow, submarine volcanic processes, in situ chemical analyzers and samplers, and real-time marine geographic information systems. Their sister institute is the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Researchers

Their current research projects are listed at:
http://www.mbari.org/rd/projects/current_projects.html

MBARI is not open to the public, but they hold on open house each year. The 2002 open house is scheduled for Saturday, June 22nd, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. They also conduct a limited number of tours.

7700 Sandholdt Road
Moss Landing, CA 95039-0628
USA
Tel:(831) 775-1700 FAX:(831) 775-1620

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