The Virginia Institute of Marine Science begins a yearlong celebration of its 75th anniversary this month.
Dean and Director John Wells said the ultimate goal of the anniversary events is to showcase the accomplishments in research, education and advisory service that VIMS faculty, staff, students and alumni have made during the last 75 years.
“VIMS has a rich history, a compelling vision, and a bright future,” Wells said.
To keep abreast of the many activities that are in the works, the public can visit a newly launched multimedia website, said VIMS spokesman David Malmquist. He said the “microsite,” at http://75th.vims.edu, will contain videos, an interactive timeline and albums of historical photos and documents. A full listing of anniversary events is also available via the regular VIMS website at www.vims.edu.
The special site will allow well-wishers to post their own “Happy Birthday” video for display on the VIMS YouTube channel, Facebook page, and other social media platforms.
“Most of VIMS’s anniversary events will build off existing outreach programs,” Malmquist said. For example, the programs will include monthly After Hours lectures, summer public tours, Speaker’s Bureau, festival attendance, and the popular Marine Science Day at VIMS’ 42-acre Gloucester Point campus.
VIMS was established in 1940 as the Virginia Fisheries Laboratory in Yorktown. The facility was relocated to Gloucester Point in 1950 to make way for the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge, which carries Route 17 over the York River between Gloucester Point and Yorktown. The school’s original building at Gloucester Point—Maury Hall—was named after Virginian Matthew Fontaine Maury, who was noted as “Father of Modern Oceanography.”
In the 1950s, VIMS researchers conducted oyster research, which Malmquist said has become the seminal work on the ecology of these shellfish. In 1955, VIMS researchers began juvenile fish and blue crab surveys in Chesapeake Bay, which are key management tools that continue today.
In the 1960s, VIMS scientists were leaders in establishing the national Sea Grant and Coastal Zone Management programs, a school timeline said. Also, VIMS established its Eastern Shore Lab in 1962, where research jumpstarted Virginia’s now multi-million dollar hard clam industry.
The 1970s saw VIMS scientists begin their annual shark survey, which is now the world’s longest-running survey, the school website said. The survey results are used to enact or improve shark management plans.
More recently, VIMS research has included seagrass restoration, oyster aquaculture, climate change, and varied projects in far-flung areas from the Caribbean to Antarctica.
VIMS’s main campus is on a strategic site that played an important part in both the American Revolution and the Civil War. Campus construction through the years has required archaeological surveys that recovered both human remains and artifacts from those conflicts.
Donald W. Davis, former chairman of the Biology Department at the College of William and Mary, was the founder of VIMS. The VIMS website said that Davis is “renowned among the marine science community for another important separation between regulation and research.” That argument guides VIMS’ advisory service mission today.
Among some of the announced programs for this special year:
—Jan. 20, Discovery Lab about gliders used for ocean research;
—Jan. 22, Professor Carl Hershner presents a lecture titled “Chesapeake Bay: Then, Now, and Next”; and,
—May 30, Marine Science Day. An artwork contest will be held in conjunction with this event, outreach director Susan Maples-Luellen said, with entries due by March 9. Also, corporate sponsors are being sought to support Marine Science Day.
Later in the year, Malmquist said VIMS will host lectures on topics as varied as blue crabs, oysters and climate change.
Outreach volunteers are needed to help at VIMS, Maples-Luellen said. “Volunteering at VIMS is a great way to stay informed on complex issues of societal importance while sharing cutting-edge marine research and new technologies with public audiences of all ages through guided campus tours, educational programs and exhibits,” she said.
Wells heads a staff of 60 tenured faculty, who are supported by almost 250 technical and administrative staff. There are 97 graduate students at VIMS, which is a branch of W&M.
The institutional budget for 2014 was $43.9 million, Malmquist said, with 49 percent paid for by grants.
For more information, call Maples-Luellen at 684-7846 or Malmquist at 684-7011.