Scripps Institution of Oceanography
2021 Annual Impact Report

Research highlights

Water Resilience in a Changing Climate

The growing volatility in California's climate, fluctuating between intense atmospheric rivers and long dry periods between storms, increases the state's needs for water resilience and improved water reliability.

In response, the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps is working closely with water managers on a program called Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations. This program uses modern forecasting methods fueled by advances in understanding and predicting atmospheric rivers to give reservoir operators better decision-making tools to optimize water resources. The advanced forecasts can help water managers make decisions to retain water if no additional storms are forecast, or release it to mitigate the risk of flooding. 

At Sonoma County’s Lake Mendocino, this program enabled a nearly 20 percent increase in water storage. At Prado Dam in Riverside, Calif., which supplies water to Orange County, an assessment found that enough water could be conserved to supply an additional 60,000 people per year.

Separately, scientists from Scripps and UC San Diego's School of Global Policy and Strategy are using advanced satellite data to map the “pulse” of groundwater flow through the San Joaquin Valley, the southern portion of the Central Valley. Groundwater is a key resource for water users in this major agricultural hub.  

Scripps’ Morgan Levy, Wesley Neely, and Adrian Borsa studied how recent advances in remote sensing via satellites and GPS enabled the detailed mapping of surface deformation and associated changes in groundwater resources. Their March 2021 study is the first to look at where and when the groundwater in the region is being recharged. This recharge causes the surface to rise, as the aquifer swells due to the increased volume of stored water.

The findings are particularly timely as California implements its Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to better understand and protect its groundwater resources

Drugs from the Sea:
Compounds from Marine Bacteria as Treatments for Brain Cancer and COVID-19

Scripps Oceanography is home to a large collection of marine bacteria, and the compounds derived from this collection are the focus of marine drug discovery for researchers with the Center for Marine Biomedicine and Biotechnology.

Scripps researchers have discovered hundreds of bioactive natural products, and in 2021 development of drugs from the sea continues to advance. Chemist Bill Fenical and microbiologist Paul Jensen collected a microbe from sediments of the tropical Atlantic Ocean in 1990. A compound produced by the microbe is now in the final phase of clinical trials, being tested on patients with the brain cancer glioblastoma. The compound, now named Marizomib, demonstrates the unique ability to pass through the blood-brain barrier to target the aggressive cancer.

Additionally, a marine cyanobacterium from Panama is showing potential as a COVID-19 therapeutic. Marine chemist William Gerwick says the cyanobacterium, called “mermaid's hair” because of its red, filament-like structure, yielded a compound named gallinamide A that shows profound activity against a human enzyme called cathepsin L. The SARS-Cov-2 virus uses cathepsin L as one of two pathways to infect cells and replicate. By combining gallinamide A with another compound they are finding a potentially effective way to block both pathways by which the virus enters cells. The testing of these compounds continues with support from the National Institutes of Health. If successful, the compounds could help treat COVID-19 infections.

Advocating for Aerosols in Fight Against COVID-19

Kimberly Prather is an atmospheric chemist who has spent her career studying aerosols, including conducting studies measuring the thousands of miles aerosol particles can travel around the globe. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear to Prather and an international team of experts that the predominant way people were becoming infected was through the air—yet this airborne transmission pathway was not being acknowledged by public health agencies.

Prather co-authored several high-profile publications, including a letter to the Biden Administration, calling for immediate action to address and limit transmission of COVID-19 via inhalation exposure. She has also advised local and federal government officials, school districts, and the public at large on how to safely re-open, with a focus on cleaning the air. As campus reopened this fall, she spearheaded an effort to assemble do-it-yourself air filtration boxes to be distributed in lecture halls and the Preuss School to add another layer of defense against the airborne spread of the virus.

BIRCH AQUARIUM

Adapting Virtually, Welcoming Visitors Back

While Birch Aquarium was temporarily closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic for much of 2020, it reopened in February 2021 for an outdoor experience, and then more broadly but at a limited capacity in the spring. Even at limited capacity, the aquarium came within 12 percent of historical record attendance numbers this summer. 

The closure also shifted the way in which the aquarium interacted with teachers and students to continue providing meaningful, accessible, and high-quality STEM education throughout San Diego County and beyond. In recognition of the K-12 loss of learning, Birch Aquarium pivoted to deliver engaging educational content to our community through an array of recorded videos and live-streamed events. The aquarium classrooms were converted to digital studios with the K-5 virtual summer camp as a test-pilot of virtual interactive experiences. Birch Aquarium also partnered with San Diego Unified School District’s PrimeTime after-school program to offer 81 virtual programs, serving more than 1,000 students. All participating schools are designated as Title I, meaning 73 percent of students qualify for free-reduced lunch.

Birch Aquarium Numbers Fiscal Year 20-21

110,460 total attendance

13,643 total students (includes virtual programs, virtual afterschool/PrimeTime, virtual camps and June’s onsite camps)

7,816 students who received financial aid

109 schools served (based on school programs data)

EQUITY, DIVERSITY and INCLUSION

Scripps Welcomes Largest, Most Diverse Graduate Class in 2021

Scripps Institution of Oceanography welcomed its largest and most diverse graduate class in 2021. This fall, 56 PhD and 15 Master’s students joined Scripps with 25 percent identifying as an underrepresented minority (URM). The Master of Advanced Studies in Climate Science and Policy program admitted 20 students with 30 percent identifying as URM, and the Master of Advanced Studies in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation program welcomed 21 new students with 42 percent of them identifying as URM. These increases come after initiating targeted graduate application assistance programs, enhanced outreach to minority-serving institutions, and revamped digital recruitment materials that better showcase the student experience and community engagement at Scripps.

Unlearning Racism in Geoscience at Scripps

Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) is a National Science Foundation-supported program to improve accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in geosciences, which historically is one of the least diverse fields in STEM. Founded by new Scripps faculty member Vashan Wright, the program is designed to deepen the knowledge of the effects of racism on the participation of people of color in geoscience and to develop and implement anti-racist policies on the institutional level that affect real change. In 2021, the newly formed URGE pod at Scripps, which is comprised of approximately 50 students, staff, postdocs and faculty, reviewed policies in place and made preliminary recommendations for improvements in the areas of racism complaints, demographics data, collaboration, admissions and hiring, safety and code of conduct, and the development of a resource map. In the coming year, the Scripps pod aims to refine these recommendations, working alongside institutional leaders on action and formally updating policies. More at urgeoscience.org.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Community Impact: The Scripps EDI team, including eight Community Engagement Fellows, organized the following events and programs to enhance equity, diversity and inclusion at Scripps: 

100 Community meet-ups hosted for APIMEDA, Black @ Scripps, First Gen, International, Latinx/Chicanx, Multicultural, and Queer @ Scripps communities 

50 One-on-one EDI check-ins hosted along with 8 community listening sessions 

19 Weekly Anti-Racism Reboot sessions organized for more than 130 registered participants 

4 Developing Engagement through Existing Pipeline (DEEP) Connections lectures with 300+ attendees

Innovation

New Accelerator Fosters Ocean-Focused Startups

San Diego’s Blue Economy includes more than 1,400 local companies, supports 46,000 jobs, and generates $14 billion in direct sales. UC San Diego will be contributing even more to the growth of the local Blue Economy through a new ocean-focused accelerator program called startBlue, co-led by Scripps Oceanography and Rady School of Management. This new program aims to facilitate the translation of ocean science and technology into new startups, and was made possible thanks to an Industry Challenge Award from the Economic Development Administration, and a philanthropic match from Scripps Director’s Council members and other supporters. Eight teams were selected to start the accelerator program this fall and will participate in weekly workshops, receive one-on-one mentoring from industry experts, and gain facilitated access to potential partners, investment, and customers.

Scripps Oceanographic Research Vessels

The novel coronavirus pandemic created enormous challenges for our oceanographic research vessels. The entire U.S. Academic Research Fleet was ordered to stand down while effective measures were developed so that mariners, technicians, and scientists could safely work together at sea. After a 119-day hiatus from operations, Scripps ships returned to sea on July 1, 2020, following protocols developed under the guidance of doctors and infectious disease experts at UC San Diego, and in collaboration with our colleagues at the University-National Oceanography Laboratory System. These protocols enabled the fleet to return safely to sea in the pandemic. Scripps ships executed more days at sea during the pandemic than any other Academic Research Fleet operator—and not a single case of COVID-19 has occurred aboard a Scripps-operated ship.

Ships Numbers Fiscal Year 20-21 

263 operational days at sea conducting scientific research and instruction

34 separate research missions

383 people supported at sea
Of the people who sailed aboard, 255 were from Scripps, and the remaining came from 48 different institutions.

SPOTLIGHTING SCRIPPS HISTORY

In June, a book was published on the history of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.  Authored by Scripps communications officer Robert Monroe, Images of America: Scripps Institution of Oceanography is part of a series of photo books that highlight historical points of interest across the country. The first comprehensive publication of Scripps Oceanography history in several decades, the book features more than 200 photographs spanning the period from Scripps’ founding in 1903 to 21st century research on climate change, the achievements of groundbreaking alumni, and technological advances in the institution’s second century of research. After its debut, the book placed on the Los Angeles Times’ list of Southern California bestsellers for paperback nonfiction for several weeks. The book is available at the UC San Diego Bookstore, Birch Aquarium gift shop, San Diego-area independent bookstores, through Amazon and other retailers.

Giving Impact

The Marine Conservation and Technology Facility is set to open in spring of 2022 under its new name: the Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility. Members of the Scripps family gifted $6 million in support for the naming of this research building—a space dedicated to education, research, and technology development on marine ecosystems and science-inspired solutions, for both scientists and students alike.

“As climate change firmly takes hold and alters the ocean environment, it is more important than ever to understand the challenges our oceans face and what we can do to preserve them,” said Ed Scripps. "This center is fundamental in that process.”

The Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility is slated to open in March 2022.