The Seymour Marine Discovery Center has embarked on a reimagining of its visitor experience that will set its path for the years ahead.
Even before the global pandemic forced governments, businesses, and other organizations to rethink operations, the center had laid the groundwork for comprehensive review of how it educates the community about the role scientific research plays in society’s understanding and conservation of the world’s oceans.
The center was forced to close its in-person visitor experiences in March, and these remain closed because of ongoing public health concerns. How the center fulfills its mission amid physical distancing and other requirements is one more question that will need to be answered by this planning effort, said Dan Costa, director of the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS), which oversees the center.
“The Seymour Center has a bright future ahead,” said Costa. “The lasting challenges and changes to our world created by COVID-19 make this effort that much more important. I’m confident that the passion, creativity, and dedication from our community will show us the best path forward.”
The center is working with some of the nation’s leading museum experts to review the center’s exhibits, programming, and operations. The planning work is expected to conclude later this summer, at which point the center will have a strategic roadmap for future operations.
A center in transition
The strategic planning comes as the center’s founding executive director, Julie Barrett Heffington, retires after a 21-year career leading the center.
Heffington has led the center since before it first opened its doors in 2000. Under her leadership, the center has inspired people of all ages to preserve our oceans and coastal environment through its programs for schools, families, and individuals. She was honored in 2010 as a community hero for her leadership.
“Julie has made magic happen,” said Friends of Seymour Center board president Kim Steinhardt. “For the last 20 years, Julie has won the respect and admiration of all who have been touched by her determined campaign to build a community gem that embodies the best of education for all ages. The future of our ocean will be, in part, her legacy.”
A key piece of the new strategic plan will include hiring a new executive director who can lead the center for the years to come.
Uncertainty amid COVID-19
The Seymour Center shut its doors in mid-March, following Santa Cruz County’s public health orders to help limit the spread of COVID-19. The pandemic has placed a huge financial strain on the Seymour Center, the campus, and the University of California system.
Costa informed staff members on June 8 that the center’s operations would remain curtailed until the center can open safely—from the perspective of the university, the county, and most importantly worker safety—and can be assured that it will have sufficient visitor traffic to make opening viable.
“It is my hope and wish that we will be able to re-open the center in the near future, but I’m unable to make any promises or projections on when this re-opening will be,” Costa said. “What I can promise is that I will do what I can to minimize the duration of the curtailment as much as possible.”
He also said the campus had to make the difficult decision to lay off a significant portion of staff members at the Seymour Center. Across the United States, museums and galleries have also been forced to lay off large numbers of staff members because of COVID-19.
A few Seymour Center staff members will remain employed to keep the living exhibits safe, to offer online programming for K-12 students and the public, and to keep the center’s community engaged while the building is physically closed.
The center will continue to host its popular programs—Science Sundays, Labside Chats, and Creature Features—via YouTube and Zoom. Additionally, Virtual Ocean Explorers Summer Camps will begin June 22 at a reduced rate. More than 100 young participants will interact virtually with Long Marine Lab's resident marine mammals, learn from scientists, and take virtual field trips to ocean study sites nearby and as far away as Antarctica.
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center on the UC Santa Cruz coastal campus relies on public support through admission fees, program fees, Ocean Discovery Shop sales, memberships, grants, and gifts from donors. While it is doing its best to reduce costs while it’s closed, gifts will help sustain parts of its program through this period.
