Biological Sciences

History

The original Marine Laboratory was situated across the harbour channel on Hayling Island and was set up in the 1940s by a brewery chemist from London, Dr J.H. Oliver, who saw marine biology as an intriguing hobby and who had a particular interest in seawater. In 1967, when Dr Oliver passed away, his wife gave the marine laboratory to the University of Portsmouth. The marine laboratory continued to grow until reaching capacity at which time the University relocated across the channel to Eastney.

 

 

 

The majority of the buildings on the current site, at Eastney, were developed in the 1960s for the Ministry of Defence and was known as the Exposure Trials Station. The University purchased the site in two phases, in 1994 and 1997, which completed the transition from Hayling Island.

Since this time the Eastney site has continued to develop and grow with the introduction of the undergraduate facility building in 2001, consisting of a suite of networked computers and a common room with vending machines. The latest addition to the site is the new teaching building completed in 2005 (Phase One of the re-development program).