New research facilities opened at Goat Island

Another milestone in the redevelopment of the Leigh Marine Laboratory at Goat Island was celebrated with the opening of the science centre last month.

Work began in April last year with construction of a student accommodation block and workshop for field staff, replacing old facilities which were in need of refurbishment.

The official opening of the science centre on August 26 marked the completion of the second stage. The new building replaces a collection of 30-year-old bach-style buildings. It includes a research building, with specialised laboratories that provide modern, purpose-built research space for staff and students, seminar and lecture spaces, and academic offices.

The last and final stage of the upgrade will be the interpretive centre, which is expected to open early next year. It will provide a facility where the thousands of people who visit the Goat Island Marine Reserve each year will have the opportunity to learn more about the marine environment and research undertaken at the laboratory.

The new science centre was officially opened by Mayor Penny Webster.

A range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses are based at Leigh, supported by 11 fulltime and two part-time staff.

Projects range from establishing the effects of protection on fish and spiny lobster and tracking their movements within the marine reserve, to investigations of predation, grazing and trophic cascade effects in temperate reef ecosystems.

There are also active programs in the ecology of soft sediment ecosystems and aquaculture, many of which focus on the bivalve populations found in estuaries and beaches. The steady supply of high quality seawater also provides the necessary base for a range of aquaculture projects, many of which are based around a newly re-fitted hatchery.