NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and the University of California, Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang broke ground on January 11, 2010 on the new 15,000-square foot Ocean Science Education Building on the east side of the UCSB campus. The project brings together the university’s Marine Science Institute and NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The Ocean Science Education Building will consist of new Channel Islands sanctuary headquarter offices and the Outreach Center for Teaching Ocean Science, a state-of-the-art educational facility.“Channel Islands and NOAA’s other national marine sanctuaries play a key role in educating the public about the importance of protecting and conserving the ocean,” said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This new building underscores our 30-year partnership with the University of California Santa Barbara and our mutual commitment to marine education and community outreach.”“We are thrilled that the dream of a new Ocean Science Education Building is becoming closer to a reality today,” said UCSB Chancellor Henry T. Yang. “This is an exciting collaboration between the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, for housing its headquarters, and UC Santa Barbara, for housing our Outreach Center for Teaching Ocean Science. OCTOS will feature state-of-the-art interactive exhibits to help connect students, educators, community groups, and the public with innovative educational programs based on frontier research in ocean science. Our campus is delighted to provide the location for this building, and grateful to NOAA for its grants. We will continue to raise more funds from private donors and foundations for our outreach activities. We deeply appreciate the visionary leadership and support of Senator Dianne Feinstein and Congresswoman Lois Capps. I also would like to thank Director Dan Basta and his sanctuary colleagues, and Professor Steven Gaines and our MSI colleagues for their vision and hard work to make this collaboration possible.”The Sanctuary Offices are expected to be ready for occupancy by Summer, 2011. For information about OCTOS exhibits and naming opportunities, please contact Gay Larsen (larsen@msi.ucsb.edu) or 805-893-3423.