Friday Harbor, Washington, USA Friday Harbor Laboratories

The wealth of tools available in buildings that sit adjacent to healthy and diverse marine habitats, and their extraordinarily rich flora and fauna, make FHL an attractive destination for students and researchers from around the world. 

The Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL) is a field station with an international reputation for excellence in marine science and education, located 70 miles north of the main University of Washington campus on 490 acres of coastal and upland habitat. FHL has 70 buildings, including dormitories, a dining hall, and fully furnished housing with kitchens, and 12 lab buildings, most of which have flow-through seawater. There is a library and computer lab, and the entire campus has a wifi network. A stockroom carries many of the consumables needed for a range of research as well as diverse equipment available to be checked out. All FHL facilities and resources are available to researchers including students (with appropriate training); we regard all students as scientists who deserve access to modern equipment. This egalitarian atmosphere is at the core of our mission. The wealth of tools available in buildings that sit adjacent to healthy and diverse marine habitats, and their extraordinarily rich flora and fauna, make FHL an attractive destination for students and researchers from around the world.  

Unlike some marine labs, FHL’s intellectual focus is very broad, both in the research done by resident and visiting scientists and in the coursework offered year-round. Research in recent years has ranged from the sub-cellular and molecular level to the ecosystem level. Larval and marine ecology, neurobiology, functional morphology, evo-devo, biomechanics, and other fields are represented on our campus each year. MarineGEO research at FHL focuses mainly in seagrass and kelp habitats. 

MarineGEO Team

Participating Institutions

iNaturalist