We offer tours of the Station on a limited basis. See the information below, and contact us if your group meets our guidelines.
Purpose
Hopkins Marine Station is the oldest marine station on the west coast and is still a thriving center of marine research. As part of our outreach efforts, we provide tours of our facilities to share the diversity of research currently underway at Hopkins with young scientists, and to answer questions about our work and what it means to be a “marine biologist.”
Availability
HMS tours are available to educational groups ONLY* (high school and above) and Stanford dorm groups
Scheduling
Tours may be scheduled by contacting hopkinstour [at] gmail.com. Please refer to the calendar and scheduling guidelines below before contacting us to arrange a tour.
Tour scheduling guidelines
We are an active research institution, and our tours are guided by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers on a volunteer basis. In order to respect and value our scientists’ time, we maintain that:
- Tours must be scheduled at least 3 weeks in advance
- Tours may only be scheduled Mon. - Fri., between 10am and 4pm*
- Tours are not available on national holidays or during Stanford academic breaks
- No more than 4 tours are scheduled each month and are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis
Suggested tour guidelines for Stanford dorm groups
In order to avoid low attendance by your students and maintain goodwill with our graduate student volunteers, please consider the following:
- Require those students who sign up to make a $10 deposit on the trip. If they show up for the tour, give them their money back.
- Establish a minimum number of students signing up to make the trip a “go” (25-30, expecting some attrition on day-of).
- Make a contribution to the Hopkins Graduate Student Fund, especially if you want to come on a weekend. Suggested donation is $50.
See the calendar below to check for tour availability.
*Tours for private groups or tours on weekends/holidays may be accommodated on a case-by-case basis, but are not guaranteed, and will require a donation to the Hopkins Marine Station Graduate Student Fund.
NOTICE - Late arrivals
Please respect our scientists’ time and inform us as soon as you know that you will be more than 15 minutes late. Tours for groups that arrive late will be cancelled unless we receive notice, and will be cancelled regardless if you are more than 45 minutes late.