Southampton Marine Sciences Center

Take a virtual tour of the marine station at Southampton!

Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) is on the forefront of marine research on the east end of Long Island with its 15,000-square foot, two-story Marine Sciences Center located on its Southampton campus.  Already home to cutting edge and internationally recognized research on harmful algal blooms, ocean acidification, seagrasses, shellfish, and ocean acoustics, this facility has greatly expanded the research capabilities of SoMAS in Southampton.  These expanded abilities ultimately benefit Long Island and its coastal ecosystems as a majority of the research in Southampton focuses on our local bays, harbors, and estuaries.

The central feature of the new facility is a computerized, state-of the-art 2,500-square-foot indoor seawater lab, which is capable of supplying three different seawater scenarios; ambient, temperature control and a closed recirculation system.  The ambient seawater line allows researchers to mimic the seasonal temperature changes of Shinnecock Bay by pulling water directly from the bay to supply various research tanks.  With temperatures fluctuating between approximately 1°C during the winter and 26°C in the summer, a temperature control line is able to instantly heat or chill incoming water to any temperature desired by a researcher.  For research requiring very specific water quality parameters, the closed recirculation system allows for greater control of not only temperature, but salinity and various other aspects of the water chemistry.

In addition to this impressive indoor wet lab, the Marine Sciences Center has an additional 2,400 sq. ft. of outdoor wet lab space that can accommodate larger experimental chambers or those experiments that would benefit from a natural sunlight cycle.

Research and education go hand in hand at the Marine Sciences Center.  A classroom, analytical lab, and a prep lab that supports two teaching laboratories not only enhance one of the nation’s top ranked marine science graduate programs, but strengthens the increased growth of Stony Brook Southampton’s undergraduate Semester by the Sea program.  A large entrance lobby, hallway with a view of the wet lab and conference room allow Stony Brook Southampton to bring awareness of our marine environment to the local community through lectures, tours, and trips aboard our research vessels.

To keep with Stony Brook Southampton’s environmental mission, the Marine Sciences Center was constructed with many “green” features.  Sustainable design innovations such as energy recovery of ventilation air, day lighting of all normally occupied spaces, a low static pressure ductwork system, high-efficiency lighting and a super-insulated exterior wall assembly all work together to bring a silver LEED rating to the Marine Sciences Center.

The Marine Sciences Center is also home to a fleet of research vessels including the R/V Paumanok, a 44-foot ocean-going vessel used for coastal research, the R/V Shinnecock, a 35-foot platform craft used for sampling local bays and estuaries, the R/V Parker, a 25-foot craft that can operate year-round and in shallow waters, and the R/V Peconic, a 45-foot catamaran, houseboat-style vessel for operation in protected bays and rivers.  Many small, outboard crafts equipped with winches, davits and metering wheels for sampling instruments such as oxygen analyzers, CTD-probes, and trawls.

 

 

 

 

Take a tour of the new Marine Science Center by visiting our galleries page.

For questions related to the Southampton Marine Sciences Center, please contact

8 Little Neck Rd
Southampton, NY 11968-6700
 

Prospective Stony Brook students: To be added to the invitation list for future tours at the Southampton campus, please complete this form on the SBU Admissions website.  Your information will be added to our email list where you will receive updates about SoMAS majors, the application process, and main campus and Southampton campus tour options.

 

 

 

News articles related to the Marine Station and Marine Sciences Center are listed below:

Latest News and Press from SoMAS

Above: Indian Island off Hubbard Ave in Peconic Bay, Riverhead, NY. Photo by Kaitlin Morris. Catch the latest press featuring SoMAS faculty and staff! The Environmental Protection Agency recently granted SoMAS with an award in the amount $522,537 in support of the...

Owls at Southampton

From Great Horned Owls Descend on Stony Brook Southampton by Chris Paparo on Stony Brook University News, June 22, 2021 On a cold winter’s night, a “hoo-h'HOO-hoo-hoo” rings out from an area of pitch pines behind one of the dorms at the Southampton campus. Moments...

Cultivating Kelp Will Help Cut Down Nitrogen in Local Waters

From Cultivating Kelp Will Help Cut Down Nitrogen in Local Waters on Stony Brook University News, June 4, 2021 Using kelp to help reduce nitrogen in Long Island waters was the subject of a May 27 press conference at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences...

Preserving History at the Southampton Marine Sciences Center

With the passage of time, history is too often forgotten. For this reason, we have decided to name the pair of ospreys that nest at the Marine Sciences Center at the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University after Ral and Mary Welker. Dr. John Ralvan “Ral” Welker...

Honoring Ryan’s Memory

Photo above: Students assist the New York Marine Rescue Center with the release of rescued seal "Ryan." The seal is fitted with a satellite tag to track its movement. Students, faculty, and staff from the Southampton campus community remembered Ryan Durie with two...

Semester by the Sea Students Clean Up Warner Island Beach

From Semester by the Sea Students Clean Up Warner Island Beach by Tamara Gregorian on Stony Brook University News on May 6, 2021 On the last weekend in April, Stony Brook University students took part in the Southampton Warner Island Cleanup. Students from the School...

SoMAS, Southampton Communities Remember Ryan Durie

From SoMAS, Southampton Communities Remember Ryan Durie on Stony Brook University News on April 21, 2021. Ryan Durie had a profound effect on those who knew him, and the impact he made on others’ lives is reflected in the response from his friends, family and the...

SoMAS Doctoral Student Working to Restore Shellfish Population

Stephen Tomasetti at the Marine Sciences Center at Stony Brook Southampton. Photo above by John Griffin From Doctoral Student Working to Restore Shellfish Population by Glenn Jochum on Stony Brook University News, March 23, 2021. Shellfish couldn’t have a better...

Latest Technology Helping SoMAS Student Identify Harmful Algae

Photo above: Graduate student Rebecca Rogers with the Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) at the Marine Sciences Center in Southampton. From Latest Technology Helping Student Identify Harmful by Glenn Jochum on Stony Brook University News, March 18, 2021 Rebecca Rogers has...