Marine Sciences Laboratory
The Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL), located 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, marine and 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:
Discovering and evaluating sustainable development of ocean energy [+ expand/ - collapse]
The facilities and expertise of the MSL are focused on enabling sustainable renewable energy from the nearshore and ocean enviornments. OUr research programs are directed towards:
- Predicting and mitigating impacts of tidal, wave, and offshore wind energy systems on coastal environments
- Optimizing siting of coastal energy installations
- Optimizing technologies to meet environmental and poier 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 synthesis 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 coasta 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.
