An educational partnership in the ocean sciences: Benefits and lessons learned

Abstract

For the past 15 years, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) have been involved in a collaborative relationship that could serve as a prototype for other institutions interested in maximizing their potential for science education based on current research programs. This article describes this relationship collaboration and its operational functioning.Despite their similar names, the two institutions have separate missions, staffs, budgets, boards of directors, and facilities. MBA is a non‐profit aquarium with ∼400 paid staff members and another 800 volunteers, whose mission is to inspire conservation of the world's oceans. MBARI is a non‐profit research organization with ∼200 staff members and a mission “to achieve and maintain a position as a world center for advanced research and education in ocean science and technology, and to do so through the development of better instruments, systems, and methods for scientific research in the deep waters of the ocean.”