Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island

In 1965, the Wrigley family donated Catalina Island land to USC for the creation of a marine research lab. The lab building, still the centerpiece of our Catalina Island campus today, was completed two years later.

By the early 1970s, the U.S. Navy was using the marine lab as a testing ground for a new research submersible. Their activities highlighted the lack of a nearby facility for treating diving injuries. Lockheed donated a hyperbaric chamber for that purpose in 1974. Operated by Wrigley Institute staff members and volunteers, the chamber is still in use today to aid divers from across the Southern California Bight.

The marine research campus in the 1970s, with the laboratory building on the hill, the hangar housing the hyperbaric chamber near the waterfront, and Big Fisherman Cove in the foreground.

In 1990, the Wrigley family made an additional gift to USC to create the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, based on both Catalina Island and USC’s Los Angeles campus. The Catalina Island lab became the Philip K. Wrigley Marine Science Center (WMSC) and gained student housing and a dining hall to accommodate expanded research and educational activities.

Students enjoy a meal in the WMSC dining hall in the 1980s.

Following several years of rapid growth, the Wrigley Institute now encompasses degree-granting and experiential learning programs, USC Sea Grant, a robust research division funding projects in the U.S. and abroad, and an engagement and communications arm to reach the public.

WMSC serves as a fully-equipped satellite campus for these activities, particularly the Catalina Residential College. This program offers interdisciplinary courses that encompass a wide range of classroom, lab, and field research experiences in a uniquely pristine environment just 22 miles from Los Angeles.

Since 2019, the institute’s scope of research has expanded dramatically to include a wide range of disciplines, original research, and degree programs. One of the institute’s key initiatives is the graduate fellowship program, which supports USC Dornsife Ph.D. students working at the intersection of people and planet. Above: Chemistry Ph.D. student Thabassum Ahammad received a Wrigley Institute graduate fellowship for his research into the creation of light-activated renewable fuels.

The Wrigley Institute also now encompasses the USC Dornsife Environmental Studies Program (ENST), which confers bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental studies and in environmental science and health. ENST students also enjoy priority access to Wrigley Institute programs that help prepare them for careers in the environment and sustainability, such as internships, the institute’s Climate Careers Spring Break, and more. Above: ENST students and their families pause for a photo during a senior trip to WMSC.