This year (April 2018) marked the 50th anniversary of the Discovery Bay Marine Lab in its present location. DBML's milestone was celebrated by past and present staff, researchers as well as friends with a week of activities from the 22nd to the 29th of April.
Activities included a commemorative Church Service at the Salem Baptist Church, a Lionfish Culling Competition, Staff and Family Fun Day, as well as a Special Session at the 11th Science and Technology Faculty Conference. Staff also visited the Discovery Bay All Age School to create a vegetable garden and a plastic bottle recycling enclosure. The week’s highlight was the Open Day where over 600 members of the community were welcomed at the Lab, where they were exposed to current and past research through facility and boat tours as well as displays of live and preserved specimen. Displays were also set up by organizations which have partnered with the DBML throughout the years such as Noranda Bauxite Partners, Alloa Fisherman’s Cooperative, CL Environmental, US Peace corps and NEPA.
The week culminated with an awards ceremony honouring the contributions of directors, overseas groups, benefactors and long-serving staff.
To date, the lab has had an impact in over 17 countries across the world. DBML has built a reputation across the world for pioneering research in Coral reef biology/ecology and supporting UWI researchers and students as well as those from overseas institutions. At its peak the DBML supported the production of over 20 publications per year and as many as 32 visiting overseas institutions per year.
