Institute of Marine Science

The Institute of Marine Science (IMS) is the research unit of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks.  IMS conducts marine science and fisheries research in the world's oceans, with special emphasis on arctic and Pacific subarctic waters. 

The Institute of Marine Science (IMS) is the research home for marine biology, oceanography and fisheries at the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

IMS conducts research in the world's oceans with special emphasis on arctic and Pacific subarctic waters.  Additional research locations include Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, Greenland, and more temperate regions.

IMS has the greatest combined expertise of any research group regarding knowledge of the regional oceanography of the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Beaufort Sea. Over the past few decades IMS has maintained ongoing oceanographic field research activities in all four of the marginal seas surrounding Alaska. The Institute’s experience is unrivaled in successfully carrying out year-round oceanographic observation programs in the western Arctic, particularly on shallow seasonally ice-covered continental shelves. It maintain unique long-term climate and ecosystem monitoring stations in the North Pacific and the western Arctic.  IMS researchers are conducting groundbreaking studies of Arctic marine ecosystem structure and dynamics.

Fisheries research in Alaska includes the freshwater lakes and rivers as well as surrounding oceans.  This research supports the world's most extensive and valuable fisheries, with a goal of continuing Alaska's record of using conservation biology and applied science to manage sustainable harvests.

IMS has an academic and research faculty of sixty and provides research training for approximately one hundred graduate students.  The main offices and laboratories are located in Fairbanks and Juneau.  Several IMS faculty are located at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.  The Kasitsna Bay Lab near Homer provides specialized coastal facilities for scientific diving, tidal zone and estuarine research, and equipment testing.

Monday through Friday 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

Dr. Brenda Konar, Associate Dean for Research (bhkonar@alaska.edu)