The weather wasn’t perfect, but that didn’t stop approximately 600 people from visiting the University of Washington’s Marine Lab’s Open house on Saturday May 14.

The public was invited to tour the facility, ask questions of students and researchers, and learn all about the world of marine zoology, botany, fisheries and oceanography. For children, there was plenty of hands on activities, including making fish prints, using real fish bodies to paint and press on paper.

This event gave researchers, professors and students a chance to share their expertise and passion with the public. “Looking at Genes with an Electron Microscope” by Victoria Foe, “BioProspecting for New Materials from the Sea” with Adam Summers, and “Surrounded by Kelp – You Gotta Love It” by Tom Mumford were three lectures given by lab scientists.

Tours of the research vessel R/V Centennial, complete with free fresh popcorn for hungry attendees and SCUBA demonstrations off the dock were scheduled all afternoon as well. Hot dogs and veggie burgers were sold at the dinning hall while the local marimba band provided entertainment.

The Labs originated back in the early 1900’s according to Claudia Mills website https://faculty.washington.edu/cemills/FHLTimeline.html with the first recorded open house being in August of 1929. These open houses have been held consistently for the last decade, and clearly from the attendance, the community loves the chance to learn what these scientist are discovering about our oceans.