Background

The Marine Ecology Laboratory was established in 1986, as part of the creation of the sector of Marine Sciences at the University of Crete. The knowhow and skills of the nucleus of young marine biologists recruited at the Marine Ecology Laboratory, as well as its facilities and resources, provided both the foundation and the starting point for the embryo Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, for these young scientists went on to fill key positions at IMBC , when it moved to its harbour location in 1989.

The Marine Ecology Laboratory continued to have a parallel existence to the IMBC as a close collaborator, carrying out a number of functions in education, training and research in coastal ecosystems. It carries out research into the health and productivity of the marine environment and the monitoring of pollution and the assessment of actual and potential biological effects and impacts forms an important part of its work.

The Laboratory has led the way in its development of meiofaunal studies, an area which has traditionally been neglected in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Laboratory has carried out meiofaunal studies in the coastal areas of Crete, in some of the very deep areas of the Greek seas and also in the Levantine Basin, thus filling an important gap in such studies in the Mediterranean.

Over the years, quite a large number of ERASMUS, SOCRATES, COMETT and LEONARDO students have received training in the Laboratory, and have collaborated in many research projects. There have been many interesting and useful collaborations and exchanges of marine scientists and students from research establishments in Europe and elsewhere by means of which the Laboratory maintains its vital contact with the exciting evolution of the marine sciences in the Third Millennium.