About Us

Founded in 1930, Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory has been a research lab for Caltech scientists and students since its inception, and more recently has also started offering educational opportunities for the local community. With its prime location at the mouth of Newport Harbor, it provides direct access to the Pacific Ocean and local marine ecosystems of Southern California, as well as to the estuarine environment of the Newport Back Bay. KML utilizes a seawater intake system, providing filtered natural seawater available for research use. Over the years, the lab has hosted scientists with a wide variety of research interests, from developmental biology to kelp bed ecology, genetics and genomics to biochemistry, neurology to microbial ecology. Today, KML's Director is Dr. Victoria Orphan, the James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology at Caltech. KML Manager, Stephen Ranson, oversees day-to-day operations. The lab is managed under Caltech's Division of Biology and Biological Engineering and is supported through division funding, grants, fellowships, and donations.