Event: Open house at The University of Texas at Austin’s Marine Science Institute
When: 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13
Where: The University of Texas Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, Texas
Background: The University of Texas Marine Science Institute offers activities for the whole family at its Open House. Visitors can learn about the sea and coastal bays and marshes, and the scientific research that goes on there, with trips aboard research and local boats. Small children and families can explore the new Wetlands Education Center and the Pier Lab, which will include touch tanks with crabs, sea urchins, sea stars, fish and other marine life. There will also be an Ocean Theater in the Marine Science Institute’s auditorium led by Pam Stryker, a Presidential Award-winning elementary science teacher. Stryker will teach children about concepts such as marine ecology by leading them in a game of marine dress-up. There will be guided tours of the Fisheries and Mariculture Laboratory, fish tanks used in the study of fish sex hormones and the effects of pesticides on fish (and human) reproduction and the institute’s facilities, including the new Estuarine Research Center. Souvenir shopping and gifts will also be available. Admission is free.
Sponsors include the University of Texas Marine Science Advisory Council, Alamo Architects, Allied Waste, AmericanBank, City of Port Aransas, Island Construction, Port Aransas Boatmen, Inc., Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce, Port Aransas South Jetty, Richter Architects, Billy Gaskins M/V MUSTANG, Fisherman’s Wharf and the WHARF CAT.
For more information, read the schedule and event details [PDF] or call the Open House Hotline at 361-749-6842.
