Usa Marine Biological Institute

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Usa Marine Biological Institute (Japanese: 高知大学 海洋生物教育研究センター)

Usa , Kochi , Japan
Website	[1]

The Usa Marine Biological Institute (UMBI) (sometimes referred to as MBI-Japan, Japanese Marine Biological Institute, Usa Kaiyo Center or just Usa) is one of the oldest and largest centers for

.

UMBI is located in the village of

, Japan.

History

The Usa Marine Biological Station was founded in 1953 as an independent research institute by the

Japanese Government

. In 1978, its name was changed to Usa Marine Biological Institute.

Under the directorship of Professor Masao Ohno, the institute established a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) training program in marine biology, since when a large number of foreign researchers have come to the institute to pursue short-term research projects. The current director, Professor Izumi Kinoshita, supervises and coordinates the JICA training program.

In 2004, UMBI started a new graduate program, Kuroshio Sciences, jointly with Kochi University, to study the

from an interdisciplinary perspective.

UMBI graduate students are supported by various financial aid schemes, especially the

.

Vessels

UMBI operates several manned research vessels and vehicles, owned by Kochi University or the Japanese Government

• R/V Yutaka Hata Maru
• R/V Neptune
• R/V Hamayu
• R/V Triton

Laboratories

• Early life-history of fishes
• Zooplankton Ecology
• Crustacean Ecology
• Marine Phycology

Phycological research

Usa Marine Biological Institute is renowned for marine phycological research. Emeritus Professor Masao Ohno was the first person in Japan to use an artificial seeding method for the commercial cultivation of green algae. The institute is one of the pioneer research institutes in the world for the study of Ulvophycean algae and has state-of-art facilities for marine phycological research.

Contemporary marine phycology research in the UMBI focuses on culture studies to establish life-histories of Ulvophycean algae (

.

Notable alumni

• Masao Ohno
• Professor Nakauchi
• Professor Yamaoka

See also

• The Scripps Institution of Oceanography is a similar research facility located in La Jolla, California.
• The
  Woods Hole in Massachusetts
  .
• The Institute of Algological Research is a similar phycological research institute also located in Japan
• The Friday Harbor Laboratories in the United States conducts similar research in marine biology.

References

External links

• Usa Marine Biological Institute