Director: Alfred Bruce

The Marine Studies Centre (MSC) established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Agriculture in 1969 became a member of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) family in 1987 (Regn: GO/ICAR-9380/MSC/1987). The headquarters was shifted from Mandapam Camp to Ennore, Chennai in 1999.

Over the period, the Institute has grown significantly in its size, stature & research infrastructure. Now, it enjoys the status of a premier research organisation comparable to any similar institution in the developed countries. With the fast changing marine scenario and emergence of mariculture as a viable proposition for enhancing the production , the Institute over the years has tuned its mandate in consonance with the needs of the time.

During the later part of the 20th century, rapidly increasing human activities and the ensued industrial developments greatly added pressure on the terrestrial and global marine environments creating myriad environmental problems throughout the world. In line with several international laboratories MSC has excelled in marine environmental studies from their earlier stages of research in two main research themes. One among the two premier research fields is the research on physical, chemical, biological and geological marine sciences. Numbers of studies have been made mainly in the Indian Ocean, which is a characteristic semi-enclosed coastal sea in India with a variety of natural marine ecosystems, and has experienced huge anthropogenic impacts in the recent decades that has raised various kinds of environmental issues. The other field of our research interest is on environmental chemistry dealing with pollution problems by toxic chemicals such as endocrine disrupters. Enormous amount of outstanding research have been carried out by collecting and analyzing a huge number of biological and environmental samples from world oceans and terrestrial regions.

The researchers involved in these two fields started collaborative studies in mid 1999's. Based on all the research findings of the above two research groups, the Marine Environmental Research Institute (MSC) was established with the prime aim to control and curb the seriousness of the existing pollution in the marine environment which is the final recipient of all the global pollutants. On the basis of the research achievements of both the research groups and having the global social requirements for countering such a various and serious environmental issues in mind, the scope of the MSC covers wide areas aiming at comprehensive understanding of coastal marine systems including physical, chemical and biological processes. The Institute also on more practical issues such as developing typical monitoring systems of toxic chemicals in environments and ecosystems using biomarkers and bio-indicators, sustainable development of fisheries, contouring the effects of coastal exploitation and figuring out proper ways of management. Apart from this the MSC is aiming at constructing a network of environmental scientists in developing Asian countries which are suffering from increasing environmental problems and promoting collaborative research.

The MSC consists of four units, Coastal Oceanography, Environmental Chemistry and Eco-toxicology, Aquatic Biology and Ecology and Marine Geology and also Marine Station as an extended arm for its achievements with 13 teaching staff. As an added arm to MSC, the Environmental Specimen Bank was established in 2002. The es-BANK of MSC archived a huge number of biological and environmental specimens such as wildlife, sea water and soils collected from various corners of the world over nearly 40 years. These specimens are important treasures unparalleled in the world by the huge number of species, long period and wide area of sampling. The es-BANK is an organization to promote absolute use of the specimens by scientists working in various disciplines all over the world, collect more specimens and exchange them with other research institutions.

Further to this, in the year 2002, MSC has been selected by the Ministry of Science and Technology , Government of India as one among the 50 academically and scientifically elite and high ranking Research Institute in India and designated it as the "Center of Excellence (21st Century COE), under which MSC will receive financial support for a period of five years from the Ministry.

With all these facilities, the staff of MSC are working towards co-ordinating the world scientific community in achieving all our above stated aims on a global scale and for handing over this globe to our future generation with full of unpolluted resources. MSC is striving hard in working towards this noble goal.