microscopy lab technician (Daniel Mark Gay) with over 20 years of experience in electron and light
microscopy, and a post-doctoral associate who teaches classes in microscopy, supports the facility and
conducts independent research in Dr. Taylor’s lab. All major instruments are under service contracts paid
by UNCW.
Crest Research Campus: Center for Marine Science
The Center for Marine Science (CMS) at UNCW supports and promotes research and instructional
activities involving students and faculty of various departments. Nearly one-third of the Department’s
faculty, including their offices and research laboratories, are housed at CMS. CMS also hosts the North
Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve Program (NC-NERR) as well as administrative offices for
the NC SeaGrant Program. CMS/UNCW historically hosted one of six the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s National Undersea Research Centers (NOAA-NURC) but these offices
were recently closed.
CMS provides research laboratories for faculty and students, boats for research and field trips, a
seawater system (raw and filtered), a machine/instrument shop, and marine engineering services. CMS
also operates the R/V Cape Fear, which is 63 ft in length and 21 ft in beam, and has a draft of 4.5 ft. It has
a cruising speed of 15 knots and a fuel capacity of 1,800 gallons. It has been used for work on benthic and
chemical ecology as well as marine geology, marine archeology, and for training students in scientific
diving and ship-board methods.
CMS occupies 80,000 sq. ft. building constructed on University property adjacent to the
Intracoastal Waterway. This property, located at Myrtle Grove, is about seven miles southeast of the main
UNCW campus. The facility serves as a marine science center for UNCW, visiting scientists from other
campuses of the University of North Carolina system, and for visitors from other universities. Facilities
exist to support research in the deep water ocean, near-shore waters, barrier islands and estuaries. The
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.
A major goal of this facility is to provide the State of North Carolina with a first class marine science
facility with quality space for research and immediate access to good quality seawater.
The Center for Marine Science at Myrtle Grove is divided among the following
agencies/disciplines: Marine Biology, Oceanography, Coastal and Estuarine Systems, Marine Geology,
Aquaculture, Chemistry, Marine Biotechnology, and Public Service. The largest group of occupants is
faculty from the Department of Biology and Marine Biology, but faculty from the departments of Geology
and Geography, Physics and Physical Oceanography, Mathematics and Statistics are also residents. This
integration provides greater opportunities for interaction between faculty and students in marine biology
with those in other subdisciplines of the marine sciences. Features of the 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 processing rooms; aquarium room with running seawater; indoor storage; outdoor storage;
shower/locker facilities; and outdoor facility for tanks with running sea water, and a 900 foot pier with
docking facilities for several coastal research vessels 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.
Several Core facilities have been established to support particular fields of marine science
research. These currently include cores for the cultivation of harmful algae, nutrient analysis, analytical
chemistry, spectroscopy and DNA analysis. Each core is directed by a faculty member who in consultation
of a core user group, has established procedures governing access and use of these facilities. Support for
the acquisition and maintenance of core instrumentation is provided through the efforts of the Core