VUCEL Facilities

Redevelopment of the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Lab was completed in early 2009. The new 816 square-metre state-of-the-art facility includes a fully functional research laboratory constructed to PC-2 standards (113 square-metres), two wet lab facilities (totaling 168 square-metres) with access to both raw and filtered flow-through seawater, 161 square-metres of office space for up to 30 VUCEL research students and staff, and a substantial staging area for coastal and subtidal research.

VUCEL maintains three sea-going research vessels. The 8.5m tri-hull research vessel, Raukawa Challenger, is well suited to both local and distant use. Two 4.6m aluminum StabiCraft vessels, the Pipi and the Tuatua, each with 40HP outboard engines support much of the work in Wellington Harbour, the Kapiti coast, and in sheltered sections of the Wellington south coast. VUCEL maintains three support trucks capable of trailoring research vessels anywhere in New Zealand.

For a complete inventory of equipment and facilities available to support research activities, please see the Victoria University Coastal Ecology Lab Operations Manual.