The Hatfield Marine Science Center was opened in 1965. The center was preceded by the Yaquina Bay Fisheries Laboratory, which was established in 1939 on the opposite side of Yaquina Bay.
The Hatfield Marine Science Visitor Center is the public education wing of the HMSC. The visitor center's exhibits focus on marine species, marine research, and the coastal environment. The visitor center offers public programs and tours and is open year-round. Admission is by donation. Live marine animals on display include a Giant Pacific octopus. Other exhibits focus on weather, tsunami, commercial fishing, ocean resource management, microscopic sea life, and tide-pool creatures and habitats. The Newmas, a locally built, 13 foot two-person submarine is on display outside the visitor center.
Education
Undergraduate and graduate students study at HMSC. The center is the future site of the new Marine Studies Initiative building, with a proposed year-round body of 500 undergraduate students.
Research Partnerships
HMSC hosts multiple between Oregon State University and external organizations. The Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies conducts interdisciplinary research covering fisheries science, aquaculture, marine ecosystems and climate, oceanography, geology, acoustics and marine-resource technology. In addition to HMSC employees, CIMRS involves staff from NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. The Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station is an agricultural research station dedicated to research and development for Oregon’s fishing, aquaculture and seafood, and helps to facilitate Oregon State University's service as a land-grant university for coastal communities. COMES is the largest of 12 branch agricultural research stations in Oregon. COMES is also hosted at the Seafood Research & Education Center in Astoria. The Marine Mammal Institute focuses on research on marine mammals, incorporating research on ecology, genetics, veterinary medicine, engineering, aquaculture, and communications. The Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center is a collaboration between Oregon State University and the University of Washington, and was founded with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. It is one of three Marine Renewable Energy centers for Oregon State University, with research focused on wave and tidal energy. The Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems is a collaboration between Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which hosts oceanographic monotoring data collected at Yaquina Bay.
Research fleet
The OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences operates two research vessels out of the home port adjacent to the center. In addition, the NOAA Marine Operations Center-Pacific , adjacent to HMSC, is also the home port for the NOAAS Bell M. Shimada and the NOAAS Rainier. These research vessels are frequently used by HMSC staff.
