The evolution of MBARI: Leveraging technology, science and information

Twenty years ago, video images from a small submersible in Monterey Bay inspired David Packard to launch and fund the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) as a private non-profit institution in Central California, USA. Early initiatives at MBARI focused on a systems approach to biogeochemical cycles in Monterey Bay and on the development and use of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) with high-resolution video cameras and collecting capabilities. From the start, MBARI ROV dive videos and data were archived as a centralized institutional resource. Access to the images and data is provided through software applications developed at MBARI specifically for that purpose. More recent initiatives include development of autonomous-underwater vehicles and cabled observatories, which promise to extend the reach of our research into deeper, colder, and more physically challenging environments. Access, analyses and visualization of data from novel instrumentation and video cameras on these platforms are stimulating development of new methods and technologies at MBARI.