The New CMS at Myrtle Grove

In 1995 the North Carolina State Legislature appropriated funds to build a new, modern marine research center on the University property adjacent to the Intracoastal Waterway. This property, located at Myrtle Grove, is about seven miles south east of the main UNCW campus. The new facility serves as a marine science center for UNCW and visiting scientists from other campuses of the University of North Carolina system and for visitors from other universities. This new center also provides space for other related agencies and supports marine research projects conducted in the coastal region of North Carolina, in the southeast region of the U.S.A., and other locations as required.

View a map of Myrtle Grove location.

A major goal of this project is to provide the state of North Carolina with a first class marine science facility with quality space for research with both deep water ocean, barrier islands and estuarine emphases, with immediate access to good quality seawater. The new facility provides the appropriate types and amounts of space to engender a viable, dynamic mix of on-site and visiting researchers. The Center provides appropriate flexibility in building systems, casework, etc., to accommodate different research projects.

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The Marine Science Center at Myrtle Grove has a total of 75,000 square feet of net indoor space, which is divided among the following agencies/disciplines: Oceanography, Coastal and Estuarine Systems, Marine Geology, Aquaculture, Chemistry, Marine Biotechnology, and Public Service. This replaces the former Center for Marine Science Research campus, as well as provides appropriate research space for several investigators who currently have laboratory space on the main UNCW campus and other potential users.

The goals of the Center for Marine Science at Myrtle Grove are as follows:

To enhance inter-institutional relationships among the University of North Carolina campuses, the North Carolina community college system, the North Carolina Museum of Natural History, the Office of Coastal Management, and the North Carolina Sea Grant Program;
To encourage public service activities such as MarineQuest
(a high school level educational program);
To organize scientific meetings/ symposia for marine scientists and educators;
To provide classrooms and teaching laboratories;
To provide state of the art marine research and education services such as research vessels for coastal and offshore activities, flow-through seawater system for aquaculture and ecosystem experiments, boat/engine repair shop, machine and instrument shop, core cutting laboratory, mammal necropsy laboratory, and a marine mammal bioacoustics laboratory.

Features of the new Center include: group meeting facilities for up to 150 individuals; fully equipped research laboratories, classrooms, and marine science laboratories; a greenhouse with running seawater; a radioisotope laboratory; computer workrooms, cold rooms, walk-in freezers; temperature controlled rooms; autoclave and media preparation room; darkroom; chemical storage and balance rooms; fireproof vault for data storage; clean room; central analytic facility; sample CMS Pier processing rooms; aquarium room with running seawater; indoor storage; outdoor storage; shower/locker facilities; and outdoor facility for tanks with running sea water. A 900 foot pier with docking facilities for several coastal research vessels is already in place on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The seawater system provides raw, filtered, and purified seawater at flow rates up to 600 liters/min; tank farm services; and aquarium room services. The location of the new center at Myrtle Grove provides easy access to regional marine environments such as: tidal marshes/mud flats/sand flats; tidal creeks; barrier islands and tidal inlets; the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway; nearshore marine environments; the Gulf Stream; hard bottom communities; sand dunes and maritime forests; and both highly developed and minimally developed estuarine environments.



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12/13/01