Applying state-of-the-art technology toward ocean health

The mission of the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the ocean.

The mission of the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is to provide better instruments and methods for scientific research of the ocean.

The aquarium-MBARI incubator initiative (AMI2) is a new effort between the aquarium and MBARI to engage on critical research that affects conservation of the ocean. The aquarium is collaborating closely with MBARI to use their advanced sampling technologies to address some of the most important questions about climate, the pH of the ocean, and other pressing concerns about the future of the ocean. For example, what is the scope and distribution of plastic pollution in the ocean?

One of the new initiatives at the aquarium is the Ocean Memory Lab. This project aims to go back in time through archives—museums or repositories—to look at marine life and see what data has been recorded about the ocean and then to turn that into usable information about a healthy ocean baseline. Partnering with MBARI opens up access to parts of the ocean—marine organisms and habitats—the aquarium otherwise would not be able to reach.

Video producer: Nancy Barr
Video interviewer: Heidi Cullen
Interview videographer: Todd Walsh
Video editor: Kyra Schlining
Monterey Bay Aquarium footage courtesy of Monterey Bay Aquarium © 2018