A. the study of marine biodiversity and ecosystems, integrating research to provide a sound scientific basis for assessment, management and policy related with marine ecosystems. This includes:
Characterizing the composition, abundance and distribution of the national marine biodiversity,
Monitoring and studying coastal and estuarine ecosystem functioning, and long-term changes in marine communities and habitats to determine the impacts of climate change and local human action;
Studying the genetics, population biology, ecology and recruitment of ecologically and commercially important species;
Determining the impacts of fishing at different levels, from genetics to ecosystems;
Investigating physiological adaptations of marine organisms
B. Environmental chemistry and toxicology
Studying how does the chemical composition of a medium influence the responses of an organism in contact with it; and how do organisms affect the chemical composition of the surrounding medium?
C. Biology and Marine Biotechnologies
Extending fundamental knowledge about marine organisms at a molecular to whole organism level and across the evolutionary scale.
