SEQUIM – Along the shore of Sequim Bay, where a stiff wind whips ice-blue waves, an ultramodern form of growth is occurring, and two governments hope to see it accelerate.
The Marine Research Operations Laboratory at Sequim, a world-class facility, opened in 1967 on the site of the former Bugge Clam Cannery.
Battelle, the private company that owns the 125 acres of uplands and tidelands, contracts with the U.S. Department of Energy to run the Sequim facility, which is part of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
In the past five years, the work force here has tripled to 92 scientists and support staff, “and we see that continuing,” said Richard Ecker, director of the facility.
Marine Research Operations holds an annual $20 million in research contracts.
The range of work is growing ever broader, Ecker added.
One division, the Coastal Security Institute, is developing ways to use biomarkers – marine organisms – to detect contaminants and other “chemicals of interest,” such as the kind that could be released in a biochemical attack on the coastline.
Then there’s the biotechnology division, which explores new products from the marine environment, including how to harness algae and sunlight to produce hydrogen fuels.
Security and biotechnology “are transforming growth areas for us,” Ecker said.
Working at the Sequim lab are internationally recognized experts in analytical chemistry, wetland and coastal ecology, ecotoxicology and marine remote sensing.
They collaborate with hundreds of other researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.
PNNL’s master plan, Ecker said, comprises ambitious goals for the Sequim lab: expanding the staff to 225 and building its volume of research contracts to $65 million.
