Port Development

In 2007, the Port of Los Angeles approached the Southern California Marine Institute (SCMI), a marine laboratory shared by a consortium of 10 southern California universities including USC, and proposed moving the lab from an isolated location in the Port to a more accessible and much larger facility. In 2008, the Port and the Annenberg Foundation sponsored a grant to USC Sea Grant to research and write a “visioning study” for a new laboratory. With extensive input from marine researchers, communities surrounding the ports, other non-SCMI educational institutions, and the general public. USC Sea Grant’s study was accepted by Los Angeles Harbor Commission, and USC Sea Grant served as a liaison between the Port and academia for many years during this project development. The AltaSea Urban Marine Research Center opened in 2022 on a 34-acre waterside site in the Port to house marine research and R&D facilities for academic institutions in the greater Los Angeles area. This is a great example of the repurposing of space within ports as industries change over time.