PORT TOWNSEND — Nearly 100 enthusiasts filled the Port Townsend Marine Science Center dock to celebrate the opening of its new Discovery Lab on Saturday.
Located at the southern end of the center’s Marine Exhibit at Fort Worden State Park, the new Foss Maritime lab is intended for all age groups, providing research, environmental monitoring and cultural projects.
“Our primary mission is education,” said Anne Murphy, Port Townsend Marine Science Center executive director.
“What we are finding is that if you’re going to do an educational program about Puget Sound, you need a research component.”
Designed to provide a marine learning experience to people of all ages, the lab offers a variety of projects that produce scientific data also useful to regional scientists and laboratories.
The $100,000 project was conceived several years ago by the staff of Port Townsend Marine Science Center, a nonprofit organization founded in 1982.
The lab is named after its lead money source, Foss Maritime Co., the transportation company, which ships cargo throughout the Puget Sound region and along the Pacific Coast.
Foss contributed $40,000 to the project and helped the marine science center find other donors to match the donation.
“We try to find opportunity to give back to the community, to share the things that we have,” said Scott Merritt, Foss senior vice president for harbor services and regional towing, during Saturday’s opening ceremony inside the maritime exhibit.