Open House

By Hannah McGrath, MLML Oceanography Lab

Mark your calendars for the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) Day of Giving on February 13th, 2024! As a renowned marine research facility and graduate program, MLML plays a pivotal role in advancing marine science and cultivating a passion for ocean conservation. The Day of Giving provides an incredible opportunity for supporters, alumni, and ocean enthusiasts to come together and support student scholarships, research and lab operations! 

Why Support MLML?

MLML has been a beacon of excellence in marine research for decades. Its interdisciplinary approach, cutting-edge research projects, and commitment to scientific outreach have made it a well known and respected institution. The funds raised during the Day of Giving will directly contribute to funding student research and opportunities including scientific diving equipment, boat time, laboratory equipment, and travel expenses to field sites and conferences (please watch the video attached to see where funds directly go). 

How Can You Contribute?

There are several ways for individuals to contribute to MLML community:

• Monetary Donations: Contributions will go towards scholarships, research equipment, and maintaining MLML facilities.
• Spread the Word: Share MLML Day of Giving information on social media platforms.  Encourage friends, family, and colleagues to join in supporting.
• Engage with MLML: Attend our Open House on April 27th, 2024 from 9am - 5pm. This is a free, family-friendly event organized by MLML students and staff to engage with the surrounding community to showcase our research facilities, and share insights into marine science. 

Your support on the Day of Giving will have a lasting impact for students. It will provide scholarships for student research and equip MLML with the tools and resources needed to conduct research. 

Join the Day of Giving:

Mark your calendars for the Day of Giving on February 13th and the Open House on April 27th! Your generosity will significantly impact student research. 

Here is the link to  the Day of Giving page

Here is the link to the RSVP page: RSVP Form

By Kali Prescott, Vertebrate Ecology Lab

A day near and dear to everyone here at MLML. Here is a brief history on World Ocean Day and a link to the website!

World Ocean Day was first proposed by Canada in 1992 at the Earth Summit; however, it wasn't until 2002 that a multi-national effort began to organize World Ocean Day as a global day of action. In it's first year (2003), World Ocean Day saw 25 events organized in 15 countries. 16 years later in 2019 over 140 countries organized over 2000 events in support of ocean conservation and awareness. Although the covid-19 pandemic nixed in person events, over 454 million people engaged with World Ocean Day during June of 2020. See https://worldoceanday.org/ for more info.

For us here a MLML, World Ocean Day means more visibility and more opportunities to share our research with our communities. We'd love to see what our MLML community is up to so share your research on social media!

P.S. Don't forget to tell your friends that the MLML Open House Crowdfunding Campaign is LIVE! Make sure they know to get their hands on this years Open House T-shirt design below!

By Amanda Heidt

If you’ve been following the blog more recently, you’re most likely aware that our Open House is coming up this weekend, April 30-May 1, 8AM-5PM. This event is a huge draw for the community every time we hold it, and this year promises to be one of the largest ever as we are also celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Moss Landing Marine Labs! I greatly urge you to check out the official 50^th Anniversary blog, found here, for a bunch of great reads about how this small “lab that could” came to be the vibrant center of marine research that it is today.

The importance of this event cannot be understated. Open House functions as an excellent source of funding and outreach. It provides the students with a chance to project their research to a wider audience, while also providing the public with an interactive and fun way to see just what it is we do here at Moss. Most importantly, the money we raise at this event feeds directly back to the students in the form of student body events and scholarships such as the MLML Scholarship Award and the WAVE Award. The recipients of this year’s awards (funded by last year’s Open House) were awarded just a few weeks ago, and many recipients will be giving talks about the work this money is funding (see our schedule of events here). I think this is an excellent way to donate to the community in a way that is both tangible and meaningful.

Open House is also run entirely by the students. From the puppet show to the bake sale to the lab activities to the sea lion show, everything you see has been planned over many months. Even the logo on our shirts is designed and voted on by the student body. I realize that for most people, all they see is the shiny, finished product. But there is so much heart and sweat and pizza-fueled meetings that go into this event, that I thought it would be a fun thing to show you readers a bit of what goes on “behind the scenes,” while also giving you a little sneak-peak on the events you can expect to see this weekend!