ince its founding in 1892, Hopkins Marine Station had long been a beacon to world-renowned biologists and home to some of Stanford’s most revered teachers. But by the mid-1970s, an air of neglect hung over the little cluster of buildings on their rocky headland. The first marine laboratory on the Pacific Coast seemed headed for a genteel version of the obsolescence haunting nearby Cannery Row. A blue-ribbon committee recommended that Stanford take action to rescue its seaside laboratory from fading away.

Now Cannery Row bustles with visitors drawn to shops, restaurants and the innovative Monterey Bay Aquarium. And next door, Hopkins director Dennis Powers is ready to proclaim the renovated station “the best marine research facility for its size in the world.”

Powers, the Harold A. Miller Professor of Marine Biology, and his predecessor, the late Colin Pittendrigh, have presided over a 20-year program of building and renovation at the marine station, coupled with recruitment of a faculty of highly respected scientists.

The newest jewel in the Hopkins crown opened in May: the DeNault Family Research Building, which houses a small aquarium (one of three on the Hopkins campus) and research laboratories for two Hopkins scientists.

George Somero Previous | Next