Scripps Institution was founded in 1903 as an independent biological research laboratory, which became an integral part of the University of California in 1912. At that time the laboratory was given the Scripps name in recognition of donors Ellen Browning Scripps and E. W. Scripps. Today, Scripps occupies 67 buildings on 230 acres along the Pacific coastline. Its staff numbers approximately 1,300, including more than 200 graduate students. The institution’s annual expenditures exceed $140 million.

Research at Scripps encompasses physical, chemical, biological, geological, and geophysical studies of the oceans and earth. Among the hundreds of research programs that may be under way at any one time are studies of air-sea interaction, climate prediction, earthquakes, the physiology of marine animals, marine chemistry, beach erosion, the marine food chain, the ecology of marine organisms, the geological history of the ocean basins, and the multidisciplinary aspects of global change and the environment.

Scripps’s educational program has grown hand in hand with its research programs. Instruction is on the graduate level, and students are admitted as candidates for a Ph.D. degree in one of eight curricular groups: biological oceanography, physical oceanography, marine biology, geological sciences, marine chemistry and geochemistry, geophysics, climate sciences, and applied ocean sciences. Approximately ninety professors are complemented by an academic staff of more than 200 research scientists. Many Scripps scientists also teach courses in undergraduate programs at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), including biology, earth sciences, and environmental systems.

Scripps operates four ships and one platform for oceanographic research in support of Scripps researchers as well as oceanographers from other institutions throughout the world. Cruises range from local, limited-objective trips to far-reaching expeditions in the world’s oceans. The Birch Aquarium at Scripps displays marine life from local and Gulf of California waters and presents basic oceanography concepts to explain research undertaken at Scripps. The aquarium also provides a wide variety of educational courses in the marine sciences for students from primary grades through high school level.

The 1,084-foot-long Scripps Pier. Data about ocean conditions and plankton have been taken from the Scripps Pier continuously since 1916, providing an unparalleled source of information on the coastal Pacific Ocean.

The Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Scripps has operated a public aquarium since its earliest years. Today, the Birch Aquarium welcomes 350,000 visitors each year, including tens of thousands of schoolchildren.

Scripps Institution’s research vessel Melville. Scripps operates one of the largest U.S. academic fleets with four oceanographic research ships and one research platform for worldwide exploration.

On September 26, 2003, Scripps Oceanography marked its centennial with a spectacular celebration, including fireworks launched from the Scripps Pier.

The first structures on the current Scripps campus, the George H. Scripps Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory (“Old Scripps”) and its water tower, were completed in 1912. Old Scripps was designated in 1982 as a national landmark.

Visit Scripps Institution of Oceanography on the web: http://scripps.ucsd.edu

For more information, contact:

Scripps Communications Office
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD
9500 Gilman Drive , 0210
La Jolla , CA 92093-0210
phone: 858-534-3624

email: scrippsnews@ucsd.edu