The Marine Science Education and Research Center (MSERC) on the former Unocal pier in Avila Beach is the home of California Polytechnic State University’s new educational research facility. This pier was donated to the Cal Poly College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) by Unocal in March of 2002. It will be used by a variety of different campus and community interests to promote marine education and research. Access to the pier is usually restricted, but the university will provide access to the center during open house events.

This research facility has received a $4.5 million endowment from Unocal. In addition, grant funding is being sought to further improve the facility. Cal Poly has submitted several grant proposals to improve this facility in order to better serve the needs of the university. Click here to see a diagram with some of the proposed structural changes to the pier. Some of the proposed improvements include the following:

• The building at the end of the pier is currently 2,000 square feet in area. The proposed remodeling plan will expand the station to 10,000 square feet. In this new two-story building, the bottom floor will have lab rooms and the top floor will include a classroom and a computer lab. The CSM is currently seeking donations and other sources of funding to make this project possible.
• A recently awarded grant is providing funds to build a new flowing seawater lab at the end of the pier. This seawater system is intended to provide life support for local marine flora and fauna giving the students and researchers an opportunity to study. One of the goals for the MSERC is to facilitate public marine education by providing direct access to marine organisms from a lab room.
• A grant proposal to build a new small vessel landing (25 ft.) was also submitted this year. If the proposal gets funding, it will provide a safer place for vessels to dock. The small vessel landing the pier currently has is a fixed steel platform located under the main platform at the end of the pier. The new landing includes a floating dock that, in addition to improving boating operations, would readily provide access to the water by students deploying sampling equipment.
• Future plans also involve renovating the base of the pier to improve the overall appearance. The current image makes the pier look like an industrial operation since this pier was recently donated by Unocal. The projects will make the pier look more like a university operation. Some of these improvements include new fencing, painting the water tank with Cal Poly written on it, and a visitor information kiosk.
• A new, high-speed Internet connection will be added so that students and staff can report data in real-time from the pier back to campus within the coming months. In addition, both meteorological and water quality monitoring data will be recorded and posted to a web site accessed through a link on the CSM site. This site is open to the public.

Cal Poly intends on fostering partnerships with Cuesta College, Hancock College, high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools in the San Luis Obispo County, and various nonprofit organizations to collaborate on the projects and programs at the pier. Cal Poly provides students with a wide selection of programs at the MSERC facility. The current curriculum offers a wide variety of subjects in marine biology and other discipline. These programs are conducted by using the learn by doing approach where the learning environment involves extensive hand-on experimentation. They include:

• Aquaculture (study of marine foods)
• Biochemistry
• Biotechnology
• Fisheries Biology
• Ichthyology (study of fishes)
• Invertebrate Zoology
• Mammalogy
• Marine Biology
• Marine Resources
• Oceanography
• Ornithology (study of birds)
• Phycology (study of algae)
• Water Quality

In the future, Cal Poly intends to expand their program offerings at the pier to offer an even broader range of education. More undergraduate and graduate students of Cal Poly will get the opportunity to study the ocean environment at the pier.

The MSERC has received support of the "oil to education" effort by several different agencies, organizations, and institutions at all levels. They range from governmental agencies to local schools and park services. Some of the organizations the MSERC has received support from include:

• Environmental Protection Agency
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• Office of Naval Research
• Hancock College
• Cuesta College
• US Coast Guard
• California Fish and Game
• California State Parks
• Regional Water Quality Control Board
• Central Coast Aquariam Society
• Port San Luis Marine Institute

Cal Poly will continue to build and maintain strong partnerships with these and other organization and institutions so that the university will continue to reach out to the community and the rest of the nation with this facility.