Mertens Marine Center Enhances Research for FIT Students
“This is what we are meant to be doing for our students. We are meant to have them learn by doing. It sounds cliche, but it’s true. You can sit in a classroom, but if you go out and do these things in the natural environment, you will have the experience of a lifetime.”
— Dr. Richard Aronson, Marine Ecologist and Head of the Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences at Florida Institute of Technology
Last fall, Florida Institute of Technology unveiled a new, state-of-the-art building overlooking Crane Creek at Melbourne Harbor. The Mertens Marine Center is a 3,000-square-foot, $1.25 million dollar building constructed with a bequest from the estate of Lawrence Mertens, Florida Tech’s first marine biology instructor.
The facility includes two research spaces, a conference room, and two faculty offices. It serves 140 undergraduates and 50 graduate students. The new marine laboratory complements the facilities already in place on campus. Its unique setting will allow students to collect samples in the Indian River and then do lab work on site, saving precious time without having to drive back to campus first.
Kailey Richard is a PhD candidate majoring in oceanography, studying marine biofilms. Conducting her field research at Mertens Marine Center allows her to test in a real-life setting.
“Laboratory results don’t always represent what goes on in the field,” Richard said. “Our lab has moved what we call our ‘dynamic barge’ from Port Canaveral to Florida Tech’s anchorage site in Melbourne, home to Mertens Marine Center. The opening of Mertens has made my research much easier. With our new microscopes in the center, I am able to assess my biofilms immediately rather than having to transport them back to campus where I run the risk of losing or contaminating my samples.”
Students at the center are working on real issues that affect our community.
“This marine center is dedicated toward solving problems in the marine environment with particular interest in the lagoon,” Aronson said. “These are problems the public cares a lot about — nutrient issues and harmful algae blooms. We are working to make the lagoon a cleaner, better place.”
Visitors to Melbourne Harbor may witness a wide variety of scientific activity surrounding the center. Students are often coming and going by pontoon boat or other small boats, delivering samples to the lab. In the summer, ocean engineering students work on field projects in naval architecture, living shorelines, and underwater robotics. They use the Mertens Marine Center to build their projects, and the lagoon in its backyard for their proving ground.
“There is no substitute for getting out there and getting your hands wet and getting your feet full of mud,” Aronson said. “It completes the experience for our students.”
Learn More:
Map It
