Marine Sciences Laboratory
The Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL), headquartered at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Sequim Marine Research Operations on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, is the Department of Energy's only marine research laboratory. This unique facility and the capabilities of its researchers deliver science and technology that is critical to the nation's energy, environmental and security future.
Building upon a history of research related to marine and coastal resources, environmental chemistry, water resources modeling, ecotoxicology and biotechnology—and more recently, national and homeland security—the MSL is emerging as a leader in these three areas:
Enabling sustainable development of ocean energy [+ expand/ - collapse]
MSL researchers are producing tools and conducting studies that will help the nation realize significant sustainable renewable energy from the nearshore and ocean environments. Our research programs are directed towards:
- Predicting and mitigating impacts of tidal, wave, ocean thermal, and offshore wind energy systems on coastal environments
- Optimizing siting of coastal energy installations
- Optimizing technologies to meet environmental and power production goals
- Optimizing production of biofuels by marine algae.
Understanding and mitigating long-term impacts of human activities, including climate change, on marine resources [+ expand/ - collapse]
MSL engineers and researchers are developing and deploying the science, predictive tools, and technologies to help natural resource stewards and users rapidly and effectively assess, monitor, and adapt to changes in coastal resource conditions driven by changes in climate, population, resource availability, and demand. We are:
- Providing science and technology syntheses to federal, state, industry, and university partners in the restoration and protection of Puget Sound
- Developing and deploying integrated science and technology solutions for restoring healthy coastal and freshwater habitats around the nation
- Assessing climate change impacts on regional aquatic systems
Protecting coastal environments from security threats [+ expand/ - collapse]
With a focus on the coastal environment, researchers at the MSL are helping prevent and counter acts of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by:
- Providing science and technology leadership for maritime threat signatures to the U.S. government
- Developing and deploying sensor systems in maritime environments
- Delivering actionable intelligence to national agencies and military operations.