Oceanography school celebrates 50 years with open house

Tour one of the nation’s most sophisticated oceanographic vessels, learn more about deep-sea vents where superheated water billows out of the seafloor feeding whole communities of unusual microorganisms and learn about the latest UW efforts to explore the world’s oceans at an open house the last weekend of March.

The free event, which is open to the campus community March 30 from 3 to 5 p.m. and to everyone March 31 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., celebrates the 50th anniversary of the School of Oceanography as an academic unit at the University.

On display will be a broad array of instruments, techniques and results demonstrating the school’s oceanographic research. Tour the 274-foot research vessel, the Thomas G. Thompson, then visit exhibits featuring 3-D computer demonstrations, live marine organisms, remote underwater vehicles, innovative ways of deploying ocean instruments, video displays and a room-sized model showing the circulation of Puget Sound.

Counselors will be available to discuss education and career opportunities in marine science.

The School of Oceanography is one of the premier degree-granting oceanographic institutions in the world. The School has 50 full-time teaching and research faculty, 39 affiliate and adjunct faculty, and 81 support staff. The school awards undergraduate and graduate degrees in oceanography and currently enrolls 200 students.

The School’s diverse research program consists of 175 projects, with total annual research expenditures of $10.5 million. The research program spans the globe - from polar seas to the tropics and from the ocean abyss to local inlets and estuaries.

The School of Oceanography is located on the shore of Portage Bay at the south end of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Boat Street.

For more information, send e-mail to: openhouse@ocean.washington.edu.