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Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Coordinates: 32°51′56″N 117°15′13″W / 32.865437°N 117.253626°W / 32.865437; -117.253626
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32°51′56″N 117°15′13″W / 32.865437°N 117.253626°W / 32.865437; -117.253626

Scripps Institution of Oceanography pier

Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in La Jolla, California, founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public service, undergraduate and graduate training in the world. Hundreds of ocean and Earth scientists conduct research with the aid of oceanographic research vessels and shorebased laboratories. Its Old Scripps Building is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. Scripps is part of the University of California, San Diego. The public explorations center of the institution is the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Since becoming part of the University of California in 1912, the institution has expanded its scope to include studies of the physics, chemistry, geology, biology, and climate of the Earth.

A century of Scripps science has had an invaluable impact on oceanography, on understanding of the Earth, and on society. More than 300 research programs are under way today in a wide range of scientific areas in 65 countries.

Tony Haymet is the tenth director of Scripps (on sabbatical October 1, 2012 - June 20, 2013). He also serves as UC San Diego's Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences and Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences, and is a Professor of Oceanography at Scripps. He joined Scripps in 2006.

Prof. Catherine Constable of Scripps' Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics is serving as the Acting Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences effective October 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.

Scripps publishes explorations now an award-winning e-magazine of ocean and earth science.

Mission statement

"To seek, teach, and communicate scientific understanding of the oceans, atmosphere, and Earth for the benefit of society and the environment."

Research programs

Scripps Institution of Oceanography researchers at sea

The institution's research programs encompass biological, physical, chemical, geological, and geophysical studies of the oceans and earth. Scripps also studies the interaction of the oceans with both the atmospheric climate and environmental concerns on terra firma. Related to this research, Scripps offers undergraduate and graduate degrees. (see http://scrippseducation.ucsd.edu for more information.

Today, the Scripps staff of 1,300 includes approximately 100 faculty, 300 other scientists and some 250 graduate students, with an annual budget of more than $140 million. The institution operates a fleet of four oceanographic research vessels and the research platform R/P FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform) for oceanographic research. A fifth research vessel in the Scripps fleet is scheduled to be launched in 2015.

History

See also: Old Scripps Building

Scripps Institution of Oceanography was founded in 1903 as the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, an independent biological research laboratory, by University of California Zoology professor William Emerson Ritter, with support from local philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps and later her brother E. W. Scripps. They fully funded Scripps for the first several years. Scripps began institutional life in the boathouse of the Hotel del Coronado located on San Diego Bay. It re-located in 1905 to La Jolla on the head above La Jolla Cove, and finally in 1907 to its present location.

In 1912 Scripps became part of the University of California and was renamed the "Scripps Institution for Biological Research." The name was changed to Scripps Institution of Oceanography in October 1925.[1] During the 1960s, led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography director Roger Revelle, it formed the nucleus for the creation of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) on a bluff overlooking Scripps Institution.

The Old Scripps Building, designed by Irving Gill, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1982.[2][3] Architect Barton Myers designed the current Scripps Building.

Research vessels

Scripps research vessel Roger Revelle

Scripps owns and operates several research vessels and platforms:[4]

Previous vessels larger than 50 ft (15 m)
  • 1906 - R/V Loma
  • 1907 - 1917 R/V Alexander Agassiz
  • 1918 - 1918 R/V Ellen Browning
  • 1925 - 1936 R/V Scripps
  • 1937 - 1955 R/V E. W. Scripps
  • 1955 - 1965 R/V Stranger (Operated as USS Jasper from 1941 to 1947 for the UC Division of War Research)
  • 1947 - 1956 R/V Crest
  • 1947 - 1969 R/V Horizon
  • 1948 - 1965 R/V Paolina-T
  • 1951 - 1965 R/V Spencer F.Baird
  • 1955 - 1969 T-441
  • 1956 - 1962 R/V Orca
  • 1959 - 1963 R/V Hugh M. Smith
  • 1959 - 1970 R/V Argo (Official Navy name was Snatch)
  • 1962 - 1976 R/V Alexander Agassiz
  • 1962–present R/P FLIP
  • 1962 - 1974 R/V Oconostota (The Oconostota was known as "The Rolling O" because of its unpleasant motion.)
  • 1965 - 1980 R/V Alpha Helix (Transferred to University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1980 (UAF sold vessel in 2007 to Stabbert Maritime)
  • 1965 - ???? R/V Ellen B. Scripps
  • 1966 - 1992 R/V Thomas Washington (Transferred to Chile and renamed Vidal Gormaz in 1992 (still operating in 2010)
  • 1969–present R/V Melville (AGOR-14)
  • 1973 - ???? R/V Gianna
  • 1973 - ???? R/V Dolphin (Dolphin is now at the San Diego Maritime Museum)
  • 1978–present R/V New Horizon
  • 1984–present R/V Robert Gordon Sproul
  • 1995–present R/V Roger Revelle

Birch Aquarium at Scripps

The mission of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps is:

  • to provide ocean science education
  • to interpret Scripps research
  • to promote ocean conservation
Birch Aquarium at Scripps

For more than a century, generations of families have discovered the ocean world through exhibits and educational programs of the aquarium-museum associated with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. From modest displays at the turn-of-the-century to magnificent habitats in the present, the role of the aquarium in Scripps Oceanography's legacy is important. Today, more than 430,000 people visit Birch Aquarium at Scripps each year, including 40,000 local school children. It was named Best Museum in the San Diego A-List for 2011 & 2012.

Birch Aquarium at Scripps features a number of exhibits and hands-on activities. These include:

  • The Hall of Fishes with more than 60 tanks of Pacific fishes and invertebrates; the largest habitat is a 70,000-gallon kelp forest.
  • Scripps Explorers Gallery, featuring cutting-edge discoveries of Scripps explorers in climate, earth, and ocean sciences through interactive exhibits.
  • Preuss Tide-Pool Plaza, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with living tide pools for discovery
  • Smargon Courtyard, also overlooking coastal bluffs, features a 13,000-gallon shark reef tank and Boundless Energy, an outdoor playground that explores renewable energy innovations.

The aquarium's hilltop site provides a spectacular overview of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus and the Pacific Ocean.

Notable faculty members (past and present)

Notable alumni

In 2008, Scripps Institution of Oceanography was the subject of a category on the TV game show Jeopardy!.[5] Scripps has been a story element in numerous fictional works.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Scripps timeline.
  2. ^ "Old Scripps Building". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  3. ^ James H. Charleton (February 12, 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Scripps, George H., Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory / Old Scripps Building" (Document). National Park Service. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help) and Template:PDFlink
  4. ^ SIO Timeline, from SIO Archives, UCSD online collection. Shor, E., Scripps in the 1950s: A Decade of Bluewater Oceanography, Journal of San Diego History, v29:4, 1983. Shor, E., SIO: Probing the oceans 1936-1976, Tofua Press, San Diego, 1978.
  5. ^ :: explorations magazine : Scripps Oceanography, UC SAN DIEGO : Around the Pier ::
  6. ^ Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Fiction. Peter Brueggeman. SIO Library, 2001

Further reading

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