By: Adam Trautwig
Since opening its doors in 2005 the Georgia Aquarium has achieved many notable accomplishments. Among them Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the western hemisphere and outside of Asia they are the only aquarium to house whale sharks.
Aquariums play a unique role as stewards of the intersection of marine life and humans. It is their role as mediators to educate and engage the public in a manner that would otherwise be impossible.
But Georgia Aquarium is taking that responsibility a step further.
According to information supplied by the aquarium, construction is proposed to start later in 2016 on the One Ocean, One Health Research Institute at Marineland, Florida.
The institute comes as part of a larger One Ocean, One Health initiative started back in 2013. Georgia Aquarium already has a thriving research program that includes projects on beluga whales, loggerhead sea turtles, and right whales.
They anticipate leveraging their network of local partners and resources to continue to study marine ecosystems. Georgia Aquarium plans to take full advantage of existing infrastructure in Florida like Marineland Dolphin Adventure and conservation centered field stations to continue to contribute to science.
Specifically, the aquarium will use the new facility to expand on past efforts as well as to map the whale shark genome using captive whale sharks, assess bottlenose dolphin populations, and restore Florida corals.The research station will be focused on six key specialties with research faculty that have their own laboratories, staff, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students.
These specialties include: marine mammals, open ocean biology, coral reefs, aquariculture, conservation and education. Altogether the proposal promises a diverse group of national and international research projects.
The proposed 22 million dollar projects will also include cutting edge technology in fields like pathology and husbandry. In order to continue educating the public these facilities will also be available to be toured by curious weekend scientists.
By assisting local schools and conservation organizations Georgia Aquarium plans to have a tangible impact on efforts that are already in place.
But before you get too excited the project is currently scheduled to open in December of 2018, so there’s a bit of a wait.
If you’d like to read the proposal in its entirety for yourself click HERE. You can read more by the author, or ask questions at www.AskASTEMPhD.com.
Featured Image: Georgia Aquarium, Source, Photographer: Diliff