Grant: Major Facilities Access Grants

The Ocean Sciences Centre (OSC) is a university-affiliated, major facility for marine research on the open Atlantic coast at Logy Bay, Newfoundland. The location of the OSC provides resident and visiting scientists and students with access to the flora and fauna of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean and is uniquely suited within Canada for shore-based studies of cold ocean processes and sub-arctic and arctic organisms. The facility provides all the necessary elements to conduct first-rate marine science, including high quality seawater, equipment to collect and maintain aquatic organisms, boats and vehicles to access field sites, laboratory space with running seawater, analytical instruments, and support staff.    The OSC is a unit of the Faculty of Science, Memorial University, with 13 research faculty (including active emeriti), 61 graduate students, 8 Post-doctoral Fellows, 19 grant supported research assistants/technicians and 25 core support staff. Over the past three years, use by scientists and students from Canada and abroad has increased by 40% to a total of over 100 external major and minor users. In addition, there are several private sector partners who utilise this major facility to tackle problems in cold ocean aquaculture. The primary research programs of our users are oceanography and marine ecology, aquaculture and fisheries, and the underlying physiological, biochemical and behavioural processes of marine organisms. Funds requested here will provide support for staff and meet some of the maintenance costs of common-use equipment and space, so that the OSC continues to be accessible to internal and external users and remains a global centre of cold ocean marine research. The support staff will have expertise in areas of common-use demand, including analytical chemistry and biochemistry, marine molecular biology, oceanography and field services, computing technology, delivery of salt and fresh water, and animal husbandry and health.