Contact Us
Staff
Dr. Charlotte Seid, Collection Manager: cseid@ucsd.edu, 858-822-2818
Prof. Greg Rouse, Curator: grouse@ucsd.edu, 858-534-7973
Location
Please contact us before shipping any materials, to ensure that safety/documentation requirements are met and that your delivery will be properly received.
Mailing address (for courier services, e.g. FedEx, UPS, DHL):
Attn: Charlotte Seid, VH138
University of California San Diego
7835 Trade St. Suite 100
San Diego, CA 92121
Mailing address (for postal service only):
Attn: Charlotte Seid
University of California San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive #0244
La Jolla, CA 92093-0244
The Gilman Drive address is a central mail facility, not suitable for perishable material or shipments requiring a signature.
Street address (for visitors):
Vaughan Hall, Room 138
8650 Naga Lane
La Jolla, CA 92037
The street address of Vaughan Hall has been previously listed as "8629 Kennel Way," "8675 Naga Lane," and "8675 Discovery Way," but the physical location has not changed.
SHELL COLLECTION DONATION INQUIRIES
We frequently receive generous and well-intentioned donation offers of private non-research shell collections. We appreciate the consideration, but we must respectfully decline due to limited storage capacity and staff time.
We suggest contacting a local shell club (see listings via Conchologists of America) or the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum.
Visiting the Collection
The Benthic Invertebrate Collection welcomes visits by appointment for research use of our materials.
Planning
To request a visit to the Benthic Invertebrate Collection, please contact the Collection Manager, Dr. Charlotte Seid (cseid@ucsd.edu), with your objective.
Please be aware that our staff travel frequently, including extended periods at sea with limited email access. Advance notice is appreciated.
Parking
Please note that there is no public parking in Scripps campus parking lots during the week. On-street parking in La Jolla is limited, and posted times are enforced.
TOUR POLICIES
We offer tours to support educational objectives for appropriate audiences. Requests must be placed at least two weeks in advance, especially during the summer, our most intense period for tours and educational loans. Capacity is limited and priority is given to UC San Diego educational programs.
A typical tour length is 25 minutes with a maximum capacity of 20 visitors.
Age-Appropriate Education
Educational collection tours are best suited for the high school level and above. This collection houses preserved dead specimens, not living animals. To see living animals, please visit Birch Aquarium. Tour participants should understand the distinction between invertebrates and vertebrates.
Safety and Security
Our facility is a laboratory space actively used for research and curation, not a public display. For laboratory safety and capacity reasons, visits are by appointment only. Tours are led by scientific staff who hold many other responsibilities. For security purposes, Vaughan Hall and other campus buildings are not accessible to the public.
All visitors must wear closed-toed shoes. Eating, drinking, and disposing of food/beverage waste in the collection rooms are prohibited. Vaughan Hall is ADA-accessible and a limited number of chairs are available, but tours are typically conducted for standing audiences.
Expectations
Please arrive on time and specify an exact meeting point in advance (typically the first-floor south entrance near VH100 and facing Pawka Green, or the second-floor entrance on Naga Lane facing Scripps Pier). Late arrivals will reduce the length of the tour.
Group leaders should brief the tour participants in advance about how a visit to the Benthic Invertebrate Collection supports their program's educational objectives. Questions, requests to see particular benthic invertebrates, and photography are encouraged.
Tour participants should exercise courtesy and self-control. Tours often include an opportunity to touch selected dry, non-hazardous specimens, but visitors may not handle other specimens without permission. Tours are conducted at the display table in VH138, and participants may not enter the storage compactors or other workspaces unless invited.
Public-Oriented Outreach
We encourage interested members of the community to visit Birch Aquarium, the public exploration center for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. We work closely with Birch Aquarium and the volunteer-run Scripps Community Outreach for Public Education (SCOPE) to share specimens with broad audiences and offer educational events. For school groups interested in organizing a Scripps campus tour, please reach out to SCOPE.
