Hopkins Marine Station is themarine laboratory ofStanford University. It is located 90 miles (145 km) south of the university's main campus, inPacific Grove,California (United States) on theMonterey Peninsula, adjacent to theMonterey Bay Aquarium. It is home to ten research laboratories and a fluctuating population of graduate and undergraduate students. It has also been used for archaeological exploration, including of the Chinese-American fishing village that existed on the site before burning down in 1906.[1][2]
Hopkins Marine Station was founded in 1892,[3] making it the oldest marine laboratory on the US Pacific Coast, and the second-oldest in the US, after theMarine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. It was originally named the Hopkins Seaside Laboratory and located on what is now calledLovers Point. In 1917, the laboratory was moved to its current location on Mussel/China/Cabrillo Point, and given its current name: Hopkins Marine Station ofStanford University.[4] The marine station is named afterTimothy Hopkins, the founder of the city ofPalo Alto and an early trustee and long-time supporter of Stanford University.
In 1931, the State of California adopted legislation designating the intertidal and subtidal areas around Hopkins Marine Station as the Hopkins Marine Life Refuge. The collection of marine invertebrates or plants is forbidden without a scientific collecting permit. The HMLR is the second-oldest Marine Life Refuge in California, after theSan Diego Marine Life Refuge of theScripps Institute of Oceanography. More recent legislation has been enacted to prevent chemical and thermal pollution of the water, to extend the boundaries of the refuge, and to prohibit the collection of fish, as well as invertebrates and plants, without a scientific collecting permit.
Scientists at the marine station pursue research in a diverse range of biological fields, includingbiomechanics,biochemistry,developmental biology,neurobiology,ecology,evolution, andgenetics. Studies utilize a great variety of organisms, but certain particularly useful and/or charismatic ones, such asmussels,squid,tuna,tunicates,sea urchins, and mudsuckers, have been the focus of continued research efforts.
From 1963 to 1968, the station operated theresearch vesselR/VTe Vega, which sailed thePacific and theIndian Ocean undertaking various studies, most notably of theDeep Scattering Layer. Data from the twentyTe Vega research voyages are still cited today, and one reference work remarks that, "[a]lthough ships from several nations participated in the Indian Ocean Expedition, only one has contributed significantly to marinephycology, namely, theTe Vega [...]."[5]
Some past and present researchers at Hopkins Marine Station:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
36°37′14″N121°54′16″W / 36.6205°N 121.9045°W /36.6205; -121.9045
