Dr. Nancy Marcus is Director of the Florida State University Marine Laboratory on the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Marcus plans to improve the general research capabilities of the Lab by installing a small generator for emergency back-up electrical power, renovation and expansion of the seawater system that supplies the Lab, and replacement of the back-up generator aboard the Research Vessel Nectes. The proposed improvements to the seawater system will expand the Lab's research capacity by adding facilities for rearing and maintaining specimens, and for conducting controlled-environment experiments. The ship-board generator is an essential safety feature, providing back-up power for lights and instrumentation. The back-up generator at the Lab will protect investigators from power failures that can ruin experiments in controlled environment chambers and destroy living organisms that require circulating water.
