Baltimore, MD (July 1, 2015)

The Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) celebrates its 5th birthday today, having been reformed from what was once the Center of Marine Biotechnology (COMB) and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) in 2010.

Led by current Director, Dr. Russell Hill, IMET has become one of the world leaders in both marine science and marine biotechnology. IMET is housed in the Columbus Center at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. IMET has 20 faculty members, ca. 150 staff, and 42 research laboratories providing more than 160,000 sq. ft. of well-equipped research space. This includes a 20,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art Aquaculture Research Center, a Bioanalytical Services Laboratory and an Extremophile Scale-up Facility.

Part of IMET's mission has been to not only inform the public about the important work going on at our facility, but also to make the public more aware about the environment and specifically the Chesapeake Bay region as a whole. IMET has looked to achieve this goal by hosting student visitors, setting up booths for the public during events in the Inner Harbor, attending workshops and student gatherings, and more.

Everyone at IMET looks forward to our continued success with both our world-class, industry-leading research efforts, and our community-focused efforts to spread knowledge about the about the environment we all live in.