Special Multidisciplinary Research Programs

The Special Multidisciplinary Research Programs consist of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, the Scripps Genome Center and the Center for Observations Modeling and Prediction at Scripps.

Scripps scientists at the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation represent a wide spectrum of disciplines, including the physical, biological, social, and information sciences. The Scripps Biological Collections contain over 100 million specimens and are used to conduct and support research on marine biodiversity worldwide. Other Scripps researchers are employing genomics as a new and powerful tool in marine research which may provide important medical and technical breakthroughs.

The Scripps Genome Center, part of the Marine Biology Research Division of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is working to integrate the rapidly expanding world of marine genomics into mainstream marine biology research. We provide guidance, resources and access to cutting-edge bioinformatics tools.

The Center for Observations, Modeling and Prediction at Scripps (COMPAS), formed as a concerted and inter-disciplinary effort in numerical modeling, is intended to help lead the institution into the future of ocean research. The initial effort is focussed upon physical processes and phenomena in the ocean and the atmosphere. However, our long-term approach is inter-disciplinary and biological and chemical aspects will be addressed with increasing emphasis as COMPAS evolves over the next few years. In particular we envision substantial effect towards understanding CO2 sequestering in the atmosphere and the ocean and chemical processes in the atmosphere, as well as the effects of biology on the physical state of the ocean.