The Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS), an Organized Research Unit (ORU) of the University of California, has the responsibility to encourage, facilitate, develop, and support facilities to enhance marine science research and education, attract extramural funds, and foster mutually productive relationships between the University and federal and state government agencies, as well as other non-governmental marine organizations.

The coastal zone is where complex geological, chemical, physical, and biological interactions occur. Its accessibility also makes it the most heavily impacted marine environment worldwide. Diverse human activities, including ocean dumping, wastewater disposal, non-point pollution, as well as fishing and recreation, all have a hand in determining the health of the nearshore environment. Ocean health is becoming a critical national and international issue and is a focus of the Institute of Marine Sciences.

The Institute of Marine Sciences is composed of faculty & researchers who are grouped into informal cluster groups according to their general area of study; graduate and undergraduate students also conduct their research under the shared focus of the institute, both on-campus in the Earth and Marine Sciences Building and off-campus at the Long Marine Laboratory Coastal Science Campus, a few miles away on the coast.

If you are interested in doing undergraduate research at IMS, contact an affiliated IMS faculty member at UCSC who is conducting research in your area of interest.  For further assistance and guidance reference the Join a Lab or Research Group site for step-by-set instructions on how to find and contact a professor.

Keywords: marine science; oceanography; marine mammals; marine pollution; marine environment; human impacts; fisheries; nearshore environment; ocean health