A new science and engineering building at Cal State Monterey Bay (CSUMB) is projected to be ready for use by students and faculty in fall 2027.
With plans to begin construction in fall 2025, the Edward “Ted” Taylor Science and Engineering Building, named after the father of Taylor Farms CEO, Bruce Taylor, will be built near CSUMB’s Chapman Science Academic Center Building. The 20,000-square foot building will provide a centralized, state-of-the-art hub for CSUMB’s nationally recognized marine science program as well as facilities for the university’s newly-launched mechatronics program.
The $38 million dollar project is made possible through a combination of university reserves, well known local donors–Taylor Farms, Roberta “Bertie” Bialek Elliott and the Packard Foundation–and $7 million in federal funding secured by local congressman Jimmy Panetta.
“With this investment, our university will become a leader in mechatronic technologies, which are pivotal for improving efficiency, sustainability and the economic capabilities of our local agricultural industries,” CSUMB President Vanya Quinones said in a prepared statement. “Similarly, with more than 30 research institutions, the Monterey Bay area has established itself as a global leader in marine science. Investment in marine science is crucial for developing a workforce dedicated to conservation and the recovery of ocean ecosystems.”
In addition, the building will house new offices for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
“Our marine science program has longstanding collaborations with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuaries,” said CSUMB Provost Andrew Lawson in a prepared statement.
”But having offices for their staff here will allow us to deepen these collaborations through research, internships and through showing our students the multitude of career paths within their field, and across NOAA’s broad organization.”
“Basically, the proximity means a lot more can happen organically between our staff and the university. There’ll be a lot more fluidity,” said Lisa Wooninck, superintendent of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
According to Wooninck, this proximity will help students get involved with the organization’s many paid internships.
“There’ll be so many opportunities for us here to work with the interns. We recognize that CSUMB is a minority-serving institution and that some folks can’t afford to do an unpaid internship so we want to pay our interns to ensure equity,” Wooninck said.
For many of CSUMB’s marine science students, the new building is an exciting development.
“Marine science having its own place to meet and have classes is a big deal to me because currently we’re kind of balkanized across the campus,” said fifth-year marine science major, Alex Weatherford.
“I think the opportunities just by having a NOAA center on campus are going to be pretty huge for students…having NOAA on campus will help future students get into research earlier,” Weatherford said.
Fourth-year marine science student and former NOAA intern Karla Buitrago-Yepes echoed this, adding “It’ll be a great thing for students even to just go and talk to someone [from NOAA] and see what programs they have, because they have a lot of programs.”
“[I feel] excitement for how much potential there could be for overlap and networking,” Skye Cardoza, third-year marine science major, said.
“For a school that has such a strong marine science potential, with us having Moss Landing Marine Labs, MBARI [Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute], and the Aquarium all right here…it’s just a move that makes sense.”