Did you know???????
Facts, information and trivia about Friday Harbor Labs
In 1894 the total faculty of the University of Washington was
seven. Ten years later it had ballooned
to a size where the need was felt for a seashore site where biology
could better be taught, and Trevor Kincaid was provided $250
to find an appropriate place for this effort. He and H. R. Foster
set forth in a small boat, inspected several sites, and in the
summer of 1903 decided on Friday Harbor to establish this station.
Professor Kincaid returned an unspent balance of $125 to the
University.
In 1904 the first classes of the then Puget Sound Biological Station were held
in temporary housing in the abandoned fish cannery on the docks
in Friday Harbor. Director, Professor of Zoology, Trevor Kincaid
continued his leadership of the facility until 1914.
Students, researchers, instructors from
55 countries have done their work and studies at Friday
Harbor Labs in the past 10 years alone.
The Friday Harbor Labs were once known
locally as "The Bug Station." In an article
written by Dr. Fu- Shiang Chia, Professor Emeritus, University
of Alberta, Dr. Chia tells the story of how the Labs acquired
that nickname. "The founder of the Labs was Professor Trevor
Kincaid who was a well known entomologist and had nicknames as
'Bug-catcher' or 'Bug-netter.' Is it possible the term "bug"
was associated with Kincaid? We will never know, and the name
'Bug-Station' has since disappeared from the vocabulary of the
townspeople." To see this entire article visit the Centennial
page on the FHL website at http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/centsymp
Libbie Hyman
was one of America's foremost invertebrate zoologists. Hyman's
six-volume work The Invertebrates (1940-68), representing
years of patient scholarship, has been widely used as a standard
reference by serious students of zoology. Finding no satisfactory
textbooks to work with, she decided to write her own - A Laboratory
Manual for Elementary Zoology (1919) and A Laboratory
Manual for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy (1929) are still
in use (in later editions). Both of the manuals emerged from
her research at Friday Harbor Laboratories.
In 1920 expenses for summer classes
from June 21 through July 30 were
no more than $60! The chief expense items
were: " fees - $13; tent (bedding not supplied), two person
tent, each $4.50; board, $30 to $36; books, not over $3; laboratories
breakages and incidentals, average $3."
On August 23, 1921, President Warren G. Harding signs H.R. 1475
"for the use of the University of Washington, some four
hundred and eighty four acres of land on the east side of San
Juan Island. The land is to be used for the University of Washington
for "a biological station and general research purposes."
1923:
The State of Washington legislates the San Juan archipelago
as a marine biological preserve and places it, for conservation
purposes, under jurisdiction of the Director of Friday Harbor
Laboratories. Construction of the first buildings was begun;
the dining hall and the first of seven laboratories. Instruction
began at the new site.
1930-1951: Tommie G. Thompson, Professor of Oceanography, serves as Director
of Friday Harbor Laboratories. FHL was virtually closed during
WWII.
Robert L. Fernald, Director of Friday Harbor Laboratories
(1958-1972) initiates diverse world class programs of graduate
training in comparative invertebrate embryology that have persisted
for more than 40 years.
1962: Construction
of the Fernald Laboratory, stockroom, apartments, maintenance
garage, and dock with major support from the National Science
Foundation.
1958-1965:
Discovery at FHL of calcium sensitive photoproteins in
jellyfish Aequorea by Frank Johnson and Osamu Shimomura
of Princeton University.
1962:
Discovery of giant muscle cells in barnacles, subsequently
used worldwide to determine role of ionic calcium in regulation
of muscular contraction.
1964:
Discovery at FHL of identifiable giant brain cells in marine
mollusks and a method to monitor how they control behavior.
A.O. Dennis Willows, Director (1972
- 2005). Richard R. Strathmann Resident Associate Director (1973-
)
R.V. Nugget
-FHL's first 'owned' research vessel (donated by Dr. John Bell
and refitted 1983- used until December 2002),
1973-76:
Publication by Eugene N. Kozloff of popular and scientific
books cataloging the marine organisms of the Pacific Northwest.
1980-90: Emergence and extensive development
of biomechanics as a topic of worldwide
scientific interest arising from graduate training and research
at FHL.
1990's:
Over 1000 publications at FHL on diverse marine scientific
topics including ecology, systematics, neurophysiology, behavior,
biomechanics, fish biology, embryology and development, molecular
biology, and biochemistry.
2001:
FHL acquired a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV), capable
of exploring to depths of 1000', with generous funding of $100,000
from the Ackerley Foundation.
May,2000:
Helen R. Whiteley Center opens for studies on a wide spectrum
of scholarly topics at FHL. The Helen R. Whiteley Center has
had, to date, more than 500 visiting scholars from than 45 institutions,
representing more than 40 disciplines. The scholars have come
from 14 countries as well as the United States. To learn more
about the Helen R. Whiteley Center, and how the cottages were
named, visit the FHL website at http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/
In January of 2003, the Research Vessel 'Centennial' arrives at
Friday Harbor Laboratories. This is a converted 58' ft. steel
fishing vessel, which was refitted for research work. Funding
derives from a generous grant from the M.J. Murdock Trust with
match funding from University of Washington. $800,000.
In 2002,
The National Institutes of General Medical Science (NIGMS)
awarded a 5-year, $10.7 million project to a cross-disciplinary
research team at the University of Washington's Friday Harbor
Laboratories (FHL). The grant funds Garrett Odell and
co-workers Jonathan Alberts, Victoria Foe, Eli Meir, Ed Munro,
George von Dassow, and, a team with roots in the UW's Department
of Zoology, to establish a Center of Excellence in Computational
Biology at the UW's Friday Harbor Laboratories.
Another extraordinary example of student
achievement by former FHL students is the career of George
Hitchings. Former FHL Director Dennis Willows met him when he came
to FHL late in his life and introduced himself. "He told
energetically about his 1927 undergraduate fieldwork on seawater
chemistry at Argyle Lagoon. Dr. Hitchings commented that the
opportunity to participate actively in that field project with
T. G. Thompson to learn analytical techniques and write his first
scientific paper were crucial to his future life in the sciences.
And what a life it was George Hitchings became an internationally
eminent biochemist, the Scientific Director of Burroughs-Wellcome,
and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine
(the only University of Washington undergraduate alum ever to
do so) in 1988. You can read more about this extraordinary man
in Tom Brokaw's book, the Greatest Generation.
In 2002,
Friday Harbor Laboratories had booked 25,777 reservation nights
for students, researchers, professors and instructors and
educational conferences. This was an increase of 18% over 2001.
2003 reservations are running ahead of 2002's total.
In 2001 and 2002,
the Friday Harbor Labs softball team 'The Sea Sluggers'
compiled consecutive winning years with 8-2 records. Good enough
for 2nd place each season.
For more information about Friday Harbor
Laboratories including community activities and programs, class
schedules and curriculum, coming events, K-12 Outreach, The Whiteley
Center, and more, visit our web site at http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/
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