UH School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology receives new marine facility

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Kelli Abe Trifonovitch, (808) 228-8108
Director of Communications and Outreach, EAUR
Posted: Mar 30, 2016

From left, SOEST Dean Brian Taylor, Sen. Lorraine Inouye, Darrell Young from the DOT, and Kahu Hailama Farden.
From left, SOEST Dean Brian Taylor, Sen. Lorraine Inouye, Darrell Young from the DOT, and Kahu Hailama Farden.

*Link to video and sound (details below): http://bit.ly/1Y1gggi

HONOLULU HARBOR – The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) received the ceremonial key to its new marine facility at Pier 35 today from the State of Hawai‘i Department of Transportation.

The transportation department, along with elected officials and UH representatives, conducted a blessing and ceremony to formally convey the newly renovated Pier 35 facility to SOEST.  The $17-million project involved partial demolition and renovations to the Pier 35 building.  The UH Marine Center will relocate from its current location at Pier 45 of Honolulu Harbor by summer 2016.  The move is part of the Department of Transportation’s Harbors Modernization Plan to increase container terminal space at the state’s busiest commercial harbor.

UH operates two major research vessels, the R/V Kilomoana and the R/V Ka‘imikai-O-Kanaloa, as well as several small boats, manned submersibles, remotely operated, autonomous and towed underwater vehicles and ocean gliders. Many of the research cruises and marine operations are done in collaboration with other specialized research groups and programs at UH.

“This is a new page in the centennial history of marine science at the University of Hawai‘i,” said SOEST Dean Brian Taylor. “It’s a great day with a new facility, new building and a renovated pier.”

SOEST brings in about $100 million in federal and international research grants a year, of which about $10 million is used to operate the UH research ships.  SOEST also employs about 1,000 workers through its various programs.

“Marine science is one of our core education and research programs,” said Taylor.  “We’re ranked in the top 15 in the world in ocean and earth and atmospheric sciences.  So it’s a key aspect of what we do.”

(Full photo caption)  From left, Brian Taylor, Dean, UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology; Sen. Lorraine Inouye; Darrell Young, Hawaii Department of Transportation Harbors Division Deputy Director; and Kahu Hailama Farden.

About the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST)

The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa was established by the Board of Regents of the University of Hawai‘i in 1988 in recognition of the need to realign and further strengthen the excellent education and research resources available within the university. SOEST brings together four academic departments, numerous research institutes, several federal cooperative programs and support facilities of the highest quality in the nation to meet challenges in the ocean, earth and planetary sciences and technologies.  For more information about SOEST’s marine operations see:  http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/UMC/cms/

Link to download video and sound: http://bit.ly/1Y1gggi

B-ROLL 1 minute, 30 seconds:

File video of UH research vessels at sea

Shots of today’s blessing ceremony

SOUNDBITES:

Brian Taylor, Dean, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (:19)

“The school itself is an economic multiplier for the state.  We bring in about $100 million a year, of which $30 million is in marine science, and that doubles and trickles down through the economy. Our extramural research generates about 2,000 jobs in the state.”

Brian Taylor, Dean, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (:11)

“This is a new page in the long centennial history of marine science at the University of Hawai‘i.  It’s a great day with a new facility, new building and a renovated pier.”

For more information, visit: https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/