Highline Community College's new 2,500 square foot aquarium and classroom facility at Redondo pier in Des Moines is a lab for growing scientists.

Called the MaST (Marine Science and Technology) Center, the new buildings along the Redondo waterfront just south of Salty's restaurant offer "world class research and programs reinvigorating the college curriculum," according to college officials.

The 260 foot long dock now supports the third largest aquarium in the state and is the only college-owned facility with direct saltwater access, boasting five aquariums and three touch tanks that hold at least 80 different species of local marine life.

Bob Maplestone, project director and science division chairman, runs the new hands-on classroom and research facility. As an affiliate of Highline's Outreach Program, the center is offering classes in Marine Biology, Oceanography, Environmental Science and Marine Mammals of Puget Sound.

"This is a great place for students to be because they can do experiential theory and some actual experiments." Maplestone said. "Right here at the center, students can do plankton tows and use microscopes to look at what they pull up."

Proximity is a major plus for the college and the local community, according to Maplestone,

"The University of Washington has a marine program, but it's all the way up in the San Juan Islands at Friday Harbor...our classroom is only about five minutes from the main campus, and we have the "Science on the Sound" program where we bring in scientists and researchers (to lecture) about marine ecosystems and the complications associated with keeping it healthy."

It is a discussion platform that can be accessed online, with an archive of past speakers at the MaST Center website.

Maplestone is excited about the prospect of being able to foster fresh interest in the marine sciences for younger kids,

"The center will give youngsters an appreciation of Puget Sound...and that's good because the country is short of scientists," Maplestone noted.

In addition to the on-site classroom and laboratory, students and the public can use their computer to access water quality baseline data and tidal prediction information, as well as a 24/7 weather station (with real-time weather data) that is located at the very end of the dock.

On the Highline College webpage for the MaST Center, the college promises to 'boost science literacy as well as keep tabs on urban water quality through monitoring and research.'

Russ Higley is center manager and, along with lab technician Mikiko Williams, they maintain and stock the viewing tanks and touch exhibits by donning scuba gear and dry suits, diving right from the dock.

What they find is exhibited behind 1.5-inch thick Plexiglas enclosures and includes scrupling, rockfish, flounder, sole, crabs, sea anemones and sea stars.

Higley explains that, unlike the larger Seattle Aquarium, the MaST Center uses unfiltered seawater from pumps just below the pier to accelerate the growth of sea life in the tanks.

"If you come back in as little as four months, these tanks will look completely different," he noted.

Highline had an undersea diving program dating from the 1960s to teach commercial diving, but it was phased out in the 1990s. The dock was underutilized until the summer of 2003 when the center officially opened.

Construction began in earnest on the new, enlarged facility in 2006 and the current buildings, laboratory and classroom opened again in early summer.

The center also functions as a summer camp for kids ages 8 to 16 on select Saturdays throughout the school year and on 'Water Weekends', visitors can interact with staff divers wearing underwater communications gear as they work just off-pier.

With $1.2 million raised through private donations and a state matching fund, the MaST program is a little over halfway towards it's fiscal goal of $2 million to pay for the renovation of the existing facility.

Officials are hoping to raise an additional $500,000 to fund scholarships, camps and community programs and are still accepting donations.

The center is open to the public on Saturdays at no cost from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additional public access may become available soon.

For more information, visit www. flightline.highline.edu/mast/.