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Facility

Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory

MCRL

The Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory is uniquely positioned for marine-based research that focuses on helping the nation achieve sustainable energy, a sustaining environment, and coastal security.

Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory (MCRL) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s only marine research facility. MCRL, located at PNNL-Sequim, is uniquely positioned for marine-based research that is focused on helping the nation achieve sustainable energy, a sustaining environment, and coastal security.

Sequim Bay links a small, but relatively undisturbed, watershed to the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the Puget Sound. This allows for:

  • direct studies of environmental impacts on marine species
  • a potential study area for energy deployment
  • use of seawater in adjacent lab facilities
  • testing of innovative marine sensors
  • rapid access to diverse marine environments.

Nearly 15,000 square feet of research laboratories are connected to the bay via a supply system that delivers 200 gallons of seawater per minute and returns it to the bay after treatment. MCRL's unique location is also within one of the cleanest airsheds in the world, providing an ultratrace background for work in measurement and signature sciences.

To defend coastal regions, MCRL researchers engineer new approaches to address the greatest challenges in detecting and responding to national and global threats. Programs focus on developing efficient and effective ways to translate data acquired from environmental media—air, water, sediment, and biota—into information that can be acted upon.

MCRL research is supported by more than 80 staff members with expertise in biotechnology, biogeochemistry, ecosystems science, toxicology, and Earth systems modeling. A dive team is also on staff to support in-water research and testing. Projects at MCRL span algal biofuels, biofouling and biocorrosion, climate change and ocean acidification, environmental monitoring, quantification of transport and effects of chemicals in marine environments, and coastal risk and hazard prediction and analysis.

Research Spaces

Aquatics Research Laboratories at MCRL The Arctic Research Laboratory at MCRL Biofouling/Biocorrosion Mesocosms at MCRL Biotechnology Laboratories at MCRL Chem/Bio Isolation Laboratories at MCRL Class-100 Clean Laboratories at MCRL Climate-Simulated Algae Ponds at MCRL Electronics/Optics Laboratories at MCRL Hyperbaric Laboratory at MCRL Mercury Analytical Laboratory at MCRL Mineral Extraction from Seawater at MCRL Oil Laboratory at MCRL Organic Chemistry Laboratory at MCRL Trace Element and Chemical Speciation Lab at MCRL

Outdoor Research Platforms

Experimental Littoral Mesocosms at MCRL Greenhouse at MCRL Littoral RDT&E Center at MCRL Microalgal Research at MCRL Outdoor Experimental Tanks at MCRL Research Vessels at MCRL Scientific Dive Team at MCRL Wetland Research Sites at MCRL

Instruments

Littoral Wave Tank at MCRL

Pre-Permitted Areas

Map showing Sequim Bay and Clallam Bay
Near the MCRL, PNNL has two pre-permitted areas, Sequim Bay and Clallam Bay. Both locations are, and can be, used for research activities.

Contacts

Genevra EL Harker-Klimeš
Coastal Sciences Division Director
genevra.harker@pnnl.gov
(206) 528-3421
Sue Southard
Operations Specialist
sue.southard@pnnl.gov
(360) 681-3615

Research topics

Energy Resiliency
Coastal Science
Earth & Coastal Sciences
Marine Energy
Environmental Monitoring for Marine Energy
Marine Biofouling and Corrosion
Marine Energy Resource Characterization
Testing for Marine Energy
The Blue Economy
Ecosystem Science
Terrestrial Aquatics
Offshore Wind
Wind Energy
Renewable Energy
Environmental Remediation
National Security
Nuclear Energy
Bioenergy Technologies
Fuel Cycle Research

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Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is managed and operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy
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