On June 18, 2007, Stony Brook University Provost Robert McGrath announced that the Marine Sciences Research Center (MSRC) was officially transformed into the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS). The following day, outside Challenger Hall, current MSRC Dean and Director and newly appointed Dean of SoMAS, David Conover, gathered with faculty, staff and students to toast this important milestone.
“Our new status as a School recognizes the growth in our educational mission and our stature as one of the top-ranked marine and atmospheric academic programs in the nation,” said Conover.
All marine and atmospheric sciences educational, research, and outreach programs at Stony Brook University will be nested in SoMAS, including the new undergraduate marine program at Southampton. The University Senate approved the changes in May.
As MSRC has grown over the years – building the graduate program, adding atmospheric sciences, creating a new undergraduate program, expanding to the Southampton campus and, and engaging in many public outreach initiatives – its name no longer reflects the growing range of educational and research activities taking place here. Becoming the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences better defines the Center’s expanding mission and goals.
Established in 1965, MSRC has grown to become a comprehensive academic and research organization. MSRC’s doctoral programs were recently ranked among the top 10 in the nation, and its undergraduate program continues to attract growing numbers of students. MSRC has been a pioneer in developing new undergraduate programs, and now offers four bachelor degrees including B.S. degrees in atmospheric science, marine science, and marine vertebrate biology, and a B.A. degree in environmental studies.
MSRC will continue as part of SoMAS. The School will serve as an umbrella to house the center and other programs including the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres (ITPA), Living Marine Resources Institute (LIMRI), and the Waste Reduction and Management Institute (WRMI). SoMAS operates eight research vessels, two marine labs, a weather station, an electronic ocean instrumentation shop, and three highly specialized labs focused on marine animal diseases, trace element analysis, and organic chemical mass spectrometry. The SoMAS community will stretch across two campuses and currently includes 345 students, 35 staff, and 60 faculty and scientists.
“School-level recognition for MSRC has been long overdue,” remarked Robert McGrath, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Stony Brook University. “Marine science has always been one of the most visible and defining features of Stony Brook. Nowhere else in SUNY, or anywhere in New York State, can students acquire degrees in marine science. Stony Brook faculty and students are deeply engaged in marine research and policy issues involving the greater Long Island and metropolitan regions, as well as oceans around the world. Stony Brook atmospheric scientists are confronting the big questions associated with climate change and its consequences. The creation of SoMAS will facilitate even greater opportunities to expand impact and visibility of these efforts.”
