At MBARI, our “office” is Monterey Bay and its deep submarine canyon. This is our window to the world ocean. Studying our blue backyard is revealing our connection to the ocean—how it sustains us, and how our actions on land may be threatening its future. Our scientists, engineers, communications staff, and marine operations crew are driven by a curiosity to learn more about the ocean and a passion to protect its future. 

Get an insider’s look at our team’s work with the Meet MBARI video series that showcases staff from across MBARI. Science is a team sport—MBARI thrives by bringing together people of different backgrounds and perspectives to tackle the problems facing the ocean. We hope this series inspires a new generation of ocean explorers. Learn how you can join our team.

Carbon Flux Ecology Team

Colleen Durkin leads MBARI’s Carbon Flux Ecology Team. This team studies the important role of the ocean in Earth’s carbon cycle and climate. Working with our engineers, they developed cutting-edge cameras and other tools to learn how deep-sea ecosystems transform carbon sinking from the surface.

Manufacturing Group

Jose Rosal leads MBARI’s Manufacturing Group. This team works closely with our scientists and engineers to bring their ideas to life in the form of robots and other high-tech instruments. Their diverse set of skills turns raw metals into technology that can withstand the harsh conditions of the deep sea. 

Bioinspiration Lab

Kakani Katija leads MBARI’s Bioinspiration Lab. This team brings the lab to the ocean. They create new high-tech tools to study how deep-sea animals survive in a deep, cold, and dark environment. The team hopes to help find bioinspired solutions to some of the world’s biggest engineering challenges.

Ocean Biogeochemical Sensing team

Yui Takeshita leads the Ocean Biogeochemical Sensing team. This team develops sensors to better understand the ocean’s changing chemistry. They deploy autonomous robots to measure and monitor these changes and understand how ocean acidification affects ecosystems from the coast to the open sea.

Ocean Observatory Engineer

Our marine operations team tests, deploys, and maintains a variety of underwater robots and instruments. Jared Figurski is a senior ocean observatory engineer in MBARI’s Division of Marine Operations. He leads a team of scientists and engineers who are using autonomous robots to observe ocean predators.

Video Lab

The Video Lab manages the treasure trove of visual data collected by MBARI’s underwater robots. The lab’s deep-sea experts comb through thousands of hours of footage to identify and label what we observe. Scientists depend on these meticulously annotated data to unlock the mysteries of the deep.