Scripps Institution of Oceanography
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Former names | Marine Biological Association of San Diego Scripps Institution for Biological Research[1] |
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Type | Public |
Established | 1903 |
Parent institution | University of California San Diego |
Director | Margaret Leinen[2] |
Academic staff | 415[3] |
Administrative staff | 800[3] |
Postgraduates | 300[3] |
Location | San Diego , California 32°51′56″N 117°15′13″W / 32.865437°N 117.253626°WCoordinates: 32°51′56″N 117°15′13″W / 32.865437°N 117.253626°W |
Website | https://scripps.ucsd.edu |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/SIOpier.jpg/300px-SIOpier.jpg)
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, 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. SIO is a division of the University of California San Diego (UCSD). 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 Earth.
Dr. Margaret Leinen took office as Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Dean of the Graduate School of Marine Sciences on October 1, 2013.[2]
Scripps publishes explorations now, an e-magazine of ocean and earth science.
Mission statement[]
"To seek, teach, and communicate scientific understanding of the oceans, atmosphere, Earth, and other planets for the benefit of society and the environment."[4]
History[]
Scripps Institution of Oceanography was founded in 1903 as the Marine Biological Association of San Diego, an independent biological research laboratory. It was proposed and incorporated by a committee of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, led by local activist and amateur malacologist Fred Baker, together with two colleagues. He recruited University of California Zoology professor William Emerson Ritter to head up the proposed marine biology institution, and obtained financial support from local philanthropists E. W. Scripps and his sister Ellen Browning Scripps. They fully funded the institution for its first decade. It began institutional life in the boathouse of the Hotel del Coronado located on San Diego Bay. It re-located in 1905 to the La Jolla area on the head above La Jolla Cove, and finally in 1907 to its present location.[5]
In 1912 Scripps became incorporated into the University of California and was renamed the "Scripps Institution for Biological Research."[1] Since 1916, measurements have been taken daily at its pier.[6] 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 on a bluff overlooking Scripps Institution.
The Old Scripps Building, designed by Irving Gill, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1982.[7][8] Architect Barton Myers designed the current Scripps Building for the Institution of Oceanography in 1998.
Research programs[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/95/SIOresearch.jpg/300px-SIOresearch.jpg)
The institution's research programs encompass biological, physical, chemical, geological, and geophysical studies of the oceans and land. 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.[9]
Today, the Scripps staff of 1,300 includes approximately 235 faculty, 180 other scientists and some 300 graduate students, with an annual budget of more than $195 million.[10]
The institution operates a fleet of three oceanographic research vessels and the research platform R/P FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform) for oceanographic research.[11]
The Integrated Research Themes [12] encompassing the work done by Scripps researchers are Biodiversity and Conservation, California Environment, Earth and Planetary Chemistry, Earth Through Space and Time, Energy and the Environment, Environment and Human Health, Global Change, Global Environmental Monitoring, Hazards, Ice and Climate, Instruments and Innovation, Interfaces, Marine Life, Modeling Theory and Computing, Sound and Light and the Sea, and Waves and Circulation.
Organizational structure[]
Scripps Oceanography is divided into three research sections, each with its own subdivisions:[13]
- Biology
- Center for Marine Biotechnology & Biomedicine (CMBB)
- Integrative Oceanography Division (IOD) Archived 2015-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
- Marine Biology Research Division (MBRD)
- Earth
- Oceans & Atmosphere
- Climate, Atmospheric Science & Physical Oceanography (CASPO)
- Marine Physical Laboratory (MPL) Archived 2013-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
Research vessels[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3d/SIOrevelle.jpg/300px-SIOrevelle.jpg)
Scripps owns and operates several research vessels and platforms:[14]
- RV Roger Revelle
- RV Sally Ride
- RP Flip
- Current and previous vessels larger than 50 ft (15 m)
- 1906–???? – RV Loma
- 1907–1917 – RV Alexander Agassiz
- 1918–1918 – RV Ellen Browning
- 1925–1936 – RV Scripps
- 1937–1955 – RV E. W. Scripps
- 1955–1965 – RV Stranger (Operated as USS Jasper from 1941 to 1947 for the UC Division of War Research)
- 1947–1956 – RV Crest
- 1947–1969 – RV Horizon
- 1948–1965 – RV Paolina-T
- 1951–1965 – RV Spencer F.Baird
- 1955–1969 – T-441
- 1956–1962 – RV Orca
- 1959–1963 – RV Hugh M. Smith
- 1959–1970 – RV Argo (Official Navy name was Snatch)
- 1962–1976 – RV Alexander Agassiz
- 1962–present – RP FLIP
- 1962–1974 – RV Oconostota (The Oconostota was known as "The Rolling O" because of its unpleasant motion.)
- 1965–1980 – RV Alpha Helix (Transferred to University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 1980 (UAF sold vessel in 2007 to Stabbert Maritime)
- 1965–???? – RV Ellen B. Scripps
- 1966–1992 – RV Thomas Washington (Transferred to Chile and renamed Vidal Gormaz)
- 1969–2014 –
- 1973–???? – RV Gianna
- 1978–2015 – RV New Horizon
- 1984–present – RV Robert Gordon Sproul
- 1995–present – RV Roger Revelle
- 2016–present – RV Sally Ride
- 2019-present - RV Bob and Betty Beyster
Birch Aquarium at Scripps[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/Aq_facility_rental.jpg/300px-Aq_facility_rental.jpg)
Birch Aquarium at Scripps, the public exploration center for the institution, features a Hall of Fishes with more than 60 tanks of Pacific fishes and invertebrates from the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest to the tropical waters of Mexico and the IndoPacific, a 13,000-gallon local shark and ray exhibit, interactive tide pools, and interactive science exhibits.[15]
Notable faculty members (past and present)[]
- Farooq Azam
- George Backus
- Ernest Baldwin
- Andrew Benson
- Hugh Bradner
- Edward Brinton
- Theodore Holmes Bullock
- Ralph J. Cicerone
- Robert W. Corell
- Harmon Craig
- Paul J. Crutzen
- Paul K. Dayton
- Edward DeLong
- Robert S. Dietz
- Seibert Q. Duntley
- Carl Eckart
- Jim T. Enright
- David Epel
- Edward A. Frieman
- Robert Garrels
- Freeman Gilbert
- Edward D. Goldberg
- Joel Hedgpeth
- Walter Heiligenberg
- Sam Hinton
- Carl Hubbs
- Douglas Inman
- John Dove Isaacs
- Jeremy Jackson
- Martin W. Johnson
- Thomas H. Jordan
- Miriam Kastner
- Charles David Keeling
- Ralph Keeling
- Charles Kennel
- Nancy Knowlton
- Lisa Levin
- Ralph A. Lewin
- Michael S. Longuet-Higgins
- Edwin P. Martz
- Henry William Menard
- Mario J. Molina
- John W. Miles
- B. Greg Mitchell
- Judith Munk[16]
- Walter Munk
- Jerome Namias
- William Nierenberg
- Pearn P. Niiler
- Stewart Nozette
- Veerabhadran Ramanathan
- Roger Revelle
- William Emerson Ritter
- Dean Roemmich
- Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt
- Enric Sala
- Hans Suess
- Francis Parker Shepard
- Cornelius Cole Smith, Jr.
- Richard Somerville
- Fred Spiess
- Janet Sprintall
- George Sugihara
- Harald Sverdrup
- Lynne Talley
- Warren White
- Klaus Wyrtki
- Victor Vacquier Sr. and son
- Benjamin Elazari Volcani
Notable alumni[]
- Tanya Atwater
- Thomas E. Bowman III
- Edward Brinton
- Stephen E. Calvert
- Jack Corliss
- John M. Edmond
- Kenneth Farley
- Michael Freilich
- Susan M. Gaines
- Eric Giddens
- Susan Hough
- Ancel Keys
- Megan McArthur
- James J. McCarthy
- Marcia McNutt
- Jessica Meir
- Walter Munk
- Wheeler J. North
- Giuseppe Notarbartolo di Sciara
- Colm Ó hEocha
- Joseph R. Pawlik
- George Perry
- S. K. Satheesh
- Brinke Stevens
- Christopher Stott
- Brian Tucker
Popular culture[]
In 2014, the institution and its Keeling Curve measurement of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were featured as a plot point in an episode of HBO's The Newsroom.[17] In 2008, Scripps Institution of Oceanography was the subject of a category on the TV game show Jeopardy!.[18] Scripps has been a story element in numerous fictional works.[19]
See also[]
- Array Network Facility
- RISE project
- The Scripps Research Institute, a neighboring, but completely independent medical research institute
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, a private, non-profit oceanographic research center in Moss Landing, California
- Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, a multi-campus marine research consortium of the California State University System
- Hopkins Marine Station, a similar research facility run by Stanford University in Monterey, California
- Hatfield Marine Science Center, a similar research facility associated with the Oregon State University and located in Newport, Oregon
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a similar research facility located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Scripps history.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Scripps Welcomes Margaret Leinen as Director". 2013-09-30.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Mission and Quick Facts". Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
- ^ Mission and Quick Facts, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- ^ Shragge, Abraham J.; Dietze, Kay (Spring 2003). "Character, Vision, and Creativity: The Extraordinary Confluence of Forces that Gave Rise to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography". Journal of San Diego History. 49 (2).
- ^ Graff, Amy (15 August 2018). "81-degree reading likely sets record for highest temperature ever measured in California waters". SFGate. San Francisco. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Old Scripps Building". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
- ^ James H. Charleton (February 12, 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Scripps, George H., Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory / Old Scripps Building" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2009-06-22. Cite journal requires
|journal=
(help) and Accompanying 10 or so photos, exterior and interior, from 1977, 1980, and undated (2.83 MB) - ^ "Education". scripps.ucsd.edu. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 2013-03-07. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
- ^ "Mission and Quick Facts | Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego". scripps.ucsd.edu. Retrieved 2017-01-20.
- ^ "Ships". scripps.ucsd.edu. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
- ^ "Integrated Research Themes". Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
- ^ "Research Sections". 2013-05-16.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "BIRCH AQUARIUM AT SCRIPPS: PRESS ROOM".
- ^ J. Baylor Roberts, "An Artist Fashions Replicas of Strange Sea Dwellers" a photograph accompanying "La Jolla, a Gem of the California Coast" National Geographic (December 1952).
- ^ "We Fact Checked Aaron Sorkin's Climate Science on "The Newsroom"". Mother Jones.
- ^ "What is... A Night in the Spotlight?". 2013-11-20.
- ^ "Scripps Institution of Oceanography". EScholarship.
Further reading[]
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography; First Fifty Years Helen Raitt and Beatrice Moulton. Los Angeles : W. Ritchie Press, 1967.
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography : Probing the Oceans, 1936 to 1976 Elizabeth Noble Shor. San Diego, Calif. : Tofua Press, 1978.
- The Keeling Curve Turns 50
External links[]
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- explorations E-Magazine
- Support Scripps
- Birch Aquarium at Scripps
- "How Scripps Institution Came To San Diego", The Journal of San Diego History 27:3 (Summer 1981) by Elizabeth N. Shor
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography digital collection on HathiTrust Digital Library
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- Oceanographic organizations
- Research institutes in California
- University of California, San Diego
- La Jolla, San Diego
- Organizations based in San Diego
- Universities and colleges in San Diego
- National Register of Historic Places in San Diego
- Scripps family
- Barton Myers buildings
- 1903 establishments in California