VISION
To become the
international
centre for
research and
education in cold
ocean biosciencE.
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Ocean Sciences is located at the Ocean
Sciences Centre (OSC) in Logy Bay, N.L., approximately 15
kilometres from the St. John’s campus.
The OSC is a major facility for marine research on the North
Atlantic coast, and is one of Canada’s largest marine laboratories.
By virtue of its location, the department provides Canadian and
international scientists and students access to the flora and fauna
of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean. It is also uniquely situated for
shore-based studies of the cold-ocean processes and sub-Arctic,
Arctic and deep-sea organisms.
The strategic goals of the department are to carry out world-class
research that focuses on organisms and processes in the cold
ocean and to provide education and training opportunities at
the undergraduate and graduate levels. Research areas include
physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology; biological and
chemical oceanography; behavioural and population ecology; and
aquaculture and fisheries.
Undergraduate and
Graduate Programs
The Department of Ocean Sciences, located within metres of the
North Atlantic, specializes in the study of biological and biochemical
patterns and processes in cold-ocean environments and adaptations in
resident organisms. Education and training is one of the department’s
principal mandates, and is achieved by providing a stimulating,
research-intensive environment in which students can develop and
thrive.
The department interfaces biological oceanography and
biogeochemistry with marine ecology, physiology, behaviour and
aquaculture of cold-ocean organisms. At the organismal level, our
graduate students study the physiological and behavioural responses
to highly variable or extreme physical and chemical environments.
Students gain greater specialization in their field of interest while
performing cutting-edge thesis research. Our program also offers
the unique opportunity to collaborate and work with a large, diverse
group of dedicated marine scientists at Memorial University.
Minors are available in oceanography and sustainable aquaculture and
fisheries ecology. For more information, please visit
www.mun.ca/osc/undergrad.
M.Sc. and PhD programs are available in marine biology. For more
information on specific programs and scholarships, visit
www.mun.ca/osc/Graduate-Program.
Facilities and Services
AQUATIC FACILITIES for holding a variety of marine and freshwater
flora and fauna for long periods at ambient and controlled water
temperatures and for live food production to support fish and
invertebrate culture.
VESSELS, including a Boston Whaler and two zodiacs for collecting
organisms.
CERTIFIED SCIENTIFIC DIVERS provide researchers with live animals
from coastal waters year-round and support research requiring
underwater surveying, sampling or observations.
57 LABORATORIES of varying size, some housing flowing sea-water
and others housing instruments for analytical chemistry, biochemistry,
physiology, histology, molecular biology (genetics and genomics) and
microscopy.
COMMON-USE ROOMS for fish sampling, microscopy/image
analysis, high-speed centrifugation, radioisotope analyses, histological
preparation and histochemistry and molecular biology.
ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTATION, including total organic carbon
and carbon hydrogen nitrogen analyzers, a nutrient autoanalyzer,
high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatographs (GC),
a GC/mass spectrometer, a Iatroscan system, high-speed centrifuges,
beta- and gamma-scintillation counters, quantitative real-time
polymerase chain reaction machines, a microarray scanner, a genetic
analyzer, a fluorescence activated cell sorter, a resonance scanning
confocal microscope, a scanning electron microscope with elemental
analysis, cell culture incubators and biosafety cabinets and a histology
suite, including a tissue processor, an embedding station, a cryostat,
an automatic microtome and an automated stainer.
COLD ROOMS for temperature-sensitive experiments.
VEHICLES, including a five-ton vehicle which can be fitted with
two 2,500-litre tanks for the transportation of live organisms, four
4x4 trucks available for field research and a shuttle van to provide
transportation to and from campus.
COLD-OCEAN DEEP-SEA
RESEARCH FACILITY
The Cold-Ocean Deep-Sea Research Facility (CDRF) provides
researchers with access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and
equipment for the study of freshwater and marine organisms,
especially those from the cold waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic
oceans. Located at Memorial University’s Ocean Sciences Centre, the
CDRF provides a local sea-water line for a continuous flow-through
water supply to an AQC3-certified biocontainment facility. The
facility is newly equipped with histology, microscopy and cell culture
equipment. Together, these tools are used to study the biology and
mitigation of disease in commercial fisheries species. Pressure vessels,
the only of their kind in North America, are used for original research
on deep-sea life and equipment.
Featured Equipment and Services
AQUATIC CONTAINMENT LABS for the study of viral, bacterial,
fungal and parasitic pathogens as well as invasive species, flow through
of sea-water or freshwater and CFIA certification up to level AQC3.
DEEP-SEA equipment, including two 19-litre vessels allowing
pressurization of water to 3,000-metre depth with heating or chilling
and flow-through seawater systems for pressurizing 100- or 50-millilitre
volumes as well as microscopic viewing while under pressure.
MULTI-TANK SYSTEMS are available and ideal for controlled
experiments in nine- or 35-litre tanks.
For more information on the CDRF, visit
www.mun.ca/osc/CDRF.
Dr. Joe Brown Aquatic
Research Building
The Dr. Joe Brown Aquatic Research Building (JBARB) provides
state-of-the-art facilities designed to support research, training, precommercial production and small-scale commercial trials for marine
aquaculture. A critical component of the 1,400-square-metre facility
is a sea-water system designed to deliver high-quality, temperaturecontrolled, flow-through water. Separate tanks and rooms are available
for broodstock conditioning, paired mating, hatchery rearing, first
feeding nursery operations, grow-out and physiological and genomic
investigations on marine finfish. Live food production can deliver
commercial quantities of rotifers and artemia daily.
The JBARB carries out research in collaboration with Memorial
University, government and industry partners. The aquaculture
potential of various vertebrate and invertebrate species is being
evaluated through the study of broodstock biology, physiology and
genomics and the development of larval-rearing techniques.
For more information on the JBARB, visit www.mun.ca/osc/jbarb.
For further information regarding the
Department of Ocean Sciences:
Ocean Sciences
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada A1C 5S7
Ocean Sciences, Memorial University
@MUNoceanscience
oceansciencescentre
033-15005-200
Tel.: (709) 864-2459
Fax: (709) 864-3220
[email protected]