Ventura Port District grants new lease to Coastal Marine Biolabs
July 30, 2014
VENTURA — Located in Ventura Harbor, Coastal Marine Biolabs (CMB) is a non-profit organization that offers innovative, research-based science education programs to high school educators and students, both locally and nationally.
The Ventura Port District Board of Port Commissioners has granted CMB a new five-year lease, which extends from June 1, 2014 through May 31, 2019. The lease coincides with a five-year, $1.2 million Science Education Partnership Award that CMB received from the National Institutes of Health to engage high school students in cutting-edge neuroscience research centered on spinal cord “hard-wiring.”
“As part of the new lease agreement, CMB will collaborate with the Port District on a number of education-centered Harbor enhancement projects, including a proposed native California shellfish hatchery in Ventura Harbor,” Ashworth said. “This effort, which is now in its formative stages, would help to establish a sustainable shellfish population at Ventura Harbor, enhance the marine habitat, strengthen the local economy, and create new outreach opportunities.”
CMB assembled its state-of-the art biosciences laboratory at Ventura Harbor in early 2007 and began accepting students in summer 2008. CMB and the Port District also aim to create new inroads for the public to explore the area’s natural beauty by creating a nature trail that links the Harbor with the surrounding beach and wetlands areas.
