Help us ensure a bright future

Why support the EOS Center? First, consider the value of the student training we do at the only marine science laboratory on San Francisco Bay. Our students are the inspiration for the Center’s ongoing dedication to ocean science and solutions. View this student-made video of a graduate student in our Interdisciplinary Marine and Estuarine Sciences (IMES) program, Tessa Filipczyk, whose research investigates the role of eelgrass restoration in the storage of “blue carbon”. 

With experiences like Tessa’s replicated many times over, a second reason to give becomes clear. The EOS Center exerts an outsized impact on evidence-based decision making for the State of California and the nation through cutting-edge science and placement of our graduates into positions that matter to the management of natural resources. For example, one of our most recent grads, Catie Thow Garcia, is now Sausalito’s first resiliency and sustainability manager to help mitigate the consequences of climate change.

To quote a colleague at the State Water Board, Christina Toms: 

“A tremendous number of my colleagues at organizations throughout the state and federal agencies are EOS grads. Many of my favorite scientists in the private sector are EOS grads. I don’t think I have to explain to anyone how crucial it is that leaders who crow about making decisions “based on the best available science” are advised by people who actually understand (and can properly apply) that science.”

Former graduate student Karen Kayfetz, now the Adaptive Management Program Manager at the Delta Stewardship Council adds:

“The EOS Center provides students with unique training in the application of science to real environmental management problems, and in the communication of science to diverse and interdisciplinary audiences. In my years of hiring scientists to work in natural resource management positions for the State of California, I have routinely found that EOS Center graduates rise to the top, even when pitted against PhD graduates or individuals with degrees from prestigious oceanography programs.”

Everything we do at the EOS Center leads to actionable knowledge that improves ecosystem and human well-being in the Bay Area and beyond. For example, our researchers investigate how best to protect shores and human communities from impacts of sea level rise through restoration of important habitat-forming species like native oysters; how aquatic plants can be used to buffer the effects of ocean acidification; how reducing local stressors like nutrient pollution can limit climate warming effects on marine organism disease and the harmful algal blooms that lead to fish kills; how understanding extreme climate events can lead to more effective bay restoration; how understanding food webs can help in management of the rarest fish species with increasing drought conditions; and whether it is safe to reintroduce sea otters to San Francisco Bay, especially with a changing climate.

Despite these ongoing successes and a vital research agenda, the EOS Center urgently needs your support. San Francisco State University can no longer, on its own, cover the costs of operations and maintenance of our 53-acre campus in Tiburon. We are working to develop new partnerships and obtain state and federal funding, and there are a number of promising paths forward. Grassroots philanthropic support could be an important part of the solution.

With your support, we envision a bright future for the EOS Center, with a continued focus on climate science and action through our education and research programs and work with local communities.

Please help us navigate these waters by making as generous a donation as you can today. Even small donations demonstrate that our community is invested in our future and believes in the work we do.