The Discovery Hall Vision
The FSUCML, as the marine laboratory for Florida State University, provides a physical and intellectual place for people to connect with the ocean while learning to understand, appreciate, and support scientific endeavors that protect and sustain natural systems and the services they provide.
Given the nature of the research being conducted at the laboratory now and envisioned for the future, our current space is limiting. The laboratory’s infrastructure is a mixture of 1968-era concrete-block buildings (a research lab, dormitories, shop, and diving center), greenhouses (built in the 1990s), and a complex of four modular units (offices, auditorium, and kitchen) moved to the lab in 2005. The cement block buildings and greenhouses are in good shape and will continue to support the “wet” side of science. The modular units -- not meant to be permanent structures -- are adequately serving the short-term needs of the lab to the greatest extent possible. This investment in the laboratory’s future is long overdue, given that the infrastructure needs required for science and training have advanced over time beyond the capabilities of our current complex. Discovery Hall paves the way for us to make waves in science.
OUR VISION: The FSU Coastal & Marine Laboratory will become a leader in conducting and supporting exceptional research that advances marine ecosystem science and conservation, addressing questions that are local to global in scope, range from the molecular to the ecosystem in scale, and involve the human communities within which the marine laboratory is embedded.
The construction of our new home, a naming opportunity currently called Discovery Hall, will provide a significant increase in research space and supporting state-of-the-art technology, faculty offices, a graduate student office complex, and conference room that will transform the science we conduct and our mentoring of graduate students. The lobby with interactive displays, coupled with the event space – currently called The Gallery of Florida Art and Auditorium – will enhance our community engagement in the region with secondary school students, state and federal agencies, legislative bodies, and the general public. Discovery Hall will be transformative for our faculty, our students, our alumni, and our partners. Further, it will allow Florida State University to increase its impact on science, art, and education locally, nationally, and globally. This marvelous new building will define our future not only to our students and faculty but to our many collaborators and users.