Hopkins Marine Station Stanford University

10/15/2026

Hopkins Marine Station stands on the site of the former Point Alones Chinese fishing village.

Beginning in the 1850s, the families who lived here built Monterey's first commercial fishing industry. Early Hopkins researchers also depended on the village's fishermen, whose skill and local knowledge brought in specimens scientists could not collect themselves.

Earlier this month, 140 of their descendants and family members returned for an annual reunion celebrating that history, heritage, and culture.

Learn more about the Chinese fishing village at https://seaside.stanford.edu/

10/13/2026

Patty Chang: surfacing features works exploring the 19th-century Point Alones Chinese Fishing Village, now home to Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station.

Currently on view at the Anderson Collection.

On view at the Anderson Collection, Patty Chang: surfacing features works exploring the 19th-century Point Alones Chinese Fishing Village, now home to Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station.

09/13/2026

Yesterday, the Hopkins Marine Station Stanford University opened its doors to over 2,000 community members and visitors for our first public Open House in over 6 years.

Visitors engaged directly with the research across our 12 resident labs, shaping our understanding of the ocean: white shark and tuna tagging, whale research, squid dissection, coral heat-tolerance experiments, kelp and algae ecology, marine chemistry, and the ocean sensors and technology driving discovery today.

Our graduate students, postdocs, research staff, marine operations team, and Harold A. Miller library staff volunteers made science accessible, tangible, and genuinely fun for people of all ages.

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability advances knowledge, solutions, and impact through research and education to create a thriving, enduring future for humanity and the planet. Community engagement is central to how we achieve that impact. Opening our doors and sharing our science builds the understanding and collective action that turn discovery into lasting change.

Thank you to everyone who joined us.

08/28/2026

Professor Steve Palumbi conducts research with the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) to identify heat-resilient coral.

Read more about this effort here. https://bit.ly/4xvH5km

08/12/2026

Ashley Blawas, a researcher at Hopkins Marine Station, led a study recently published in PNAS exploring just how flexible whales' heart rates can be as they expend tremendous amounts of energy during deep underwater dives.

This research sheds new light on the remarkable adaptations that allow these ocean giants to thrive in their environment, deepening our understanding of marine mammal biology and the incredible ways life has evolved beneath the waves.

When blue whales and humpbacks dive, their heart rates slow as their systems adjust to reduce oxygen consumption. But when they actively lunge, their heart rates rise to power acrobatic sprints to engulf massive volumes of prey-laden water. In PNAS: https://ow.ly/peEU50Zv3oB

08/12/2026

Bridge Builders, a Los Angeles-based community group empowering youth through mentorship and STEM experiences, recently visited the Hopkins Marine Station as part of a regional tour of marine science institutions.

Students dove into the world of marine science through hands-on, immersive experiences right on the shores of beautiful Monterey Bay. From exploring tide pools to discovering the wonders of ocean ecosystems, our young scientists got a firsthand look at what marine research is all about.

Experiences like these spark curiosity, inspire future STEM leaders, and open doors to careers students may have never imagined.

Meeting our planet's greatest challenges demands urgent, collective action, and outreach programs like this one are vital to cultivating the ocean-conscious leaders who will drive the long-term protection of our critical ecosystems.

08/12/2026

Stanford’s 2026 Big Ideas for Oceans seed grants support innovative research to protect whales, restore kelp forests, investigate seagrass disease, and strengthen coral reef resilience. Together, these projects are advancing solutions for oceans and the communities that depend on them.

Stanford University
Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions

This year’s Big Ideas for Oceans seed grants support research on dynamic marine monitoring to protect whales, investigating the causes of marine diseases, and engineering algae to enhance marine resilience.

08/04/2026

A young harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) approaches a diver near the Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey, California. Seals are known for their curious and playful demeanor, but they can also easily become stressed with unexpected human interaction. Their presence typically indicates a healthy habitat, as they consume fish that are vulnerable to pollution, in turn regulating their populations.

See more Photos of the Day: https://on.natgeo.com/Hy3kIO

06/25/2026

New Stanford University research in Senegal demonstrates how introducing native fish into rice paddies can simultaneously combat schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease affecting 220+ million people, while boosting agricultural productivity.

The approach is elegantly simple: native fish species naturally suppress disease-carrying snail populations while increasing rice yields by over 25%. Farmers gain improved soil nutrients and an additional income source from fish sales, all without feeding the fish.

"This research points to a new way of thinking about agriculture. It's about farming systems that not only grow more food, but also improve human health and support the environment," according to Prof. Giulio De Leo, based at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, Hopkins Marine Station Stanford University.

One sustainable intervention addressing health, food security, and poverty.

New research shows how introducing native fish into rice fields may help boost crop yields while suppressing a disease affecting more than 220 million people worldwide.

06/10/2026

Despite two decades of research on eastern Pacific white sharks, we still lack answers about population trends, juvenile recruitment, and predator-prey dynamics.

Dr. Samantha Andrzejaczek from Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station will present on the Monterey Bay White Shark Project at MBARI on June 10, 2026, from 11 AM to noon Pacific Time. Click the link below for more details.

The project uses electronic tags, drones, eDNA, genome sequencing, underwater video, and AI to track more than 1,000 individual sharks and understand their relationship with pinniped prey.

They're operating coastal acoustic arrays, conducting monthly drone surveys, and deploying camera traps at seal colonies to monitor how prey availability influences shark distribution and behavior.

Details: https://www.mbari.org/event/samantha-andrzejaczek/

Samantha Andrzejaczek, PhD. Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University The white shark populations of the eastern Pacific have been studied for over two decades, yet fundamental questions regarding predator-prey dynamics, population trends, and juvenile recruitment remain unanswered. In 2023, the m...