William & Mary receives $100 million donation for school of marine sciences to study climate change

Conceptual rendering of a courtyard connecting William & Mary's envisioned infrastructure to a renovated Visitor Center. (Rendering courtesy of 3North)

One of Virginia’s top universities will dedicate a $100 million donation to revamping its marine science school and attracting researchers to help students understand the evolving impacts of climate change.

The College of William & Mary announced Wednesday it received the gift from philanthropist Jane Batten to rename its School of Marine Science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences to the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences and bolster its resources to study a range of topics including sea level rise, increased storm intensity, loss of agricultural land and impaired water quality, issues that especially impact Virginia.

“This gift propels us forward toward great promise and progress,” Batten said in a statement. “I am confident that this will spark significant change, building resilience in coastal communities in the Commonwealth and across the globe for generations to come.”

Award will fund climate change, coastal resilience education

Virginia’s tidewater region, consisting of wetlands, marshes and seawater environments has continuously experienced some of the highest rates of sea level rise along the East Coast, at about .2 inches per year.

The overhauled school would join a collection of several other programs around the county offering marine science disciplines, but would provide a unique focus on the impact of climate change impacting coastal communities with its location on the York River in Gloucester Point, Virginia, the university says.

Currently, the school offers a minor, master’s degree and two research degrees in the discipline that studies marine ecosystems and what shapes them. In May, William & Mary’s Board of Visitors approved creating an undergraduate marine science degree that is awaiting approval from the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia and would be offered at the Batten school.

Dean of the Batten School and Director of VIMS Derek Aday said in a statement the school has a “geographical advantage, expertise advantage and historical presence in this area.”

“We also have the breadth and depth in coastal and marine systems to allow us to take on very significant challenges that other places aren’t equipped for,” said Aday. “With this unprecedented gift, we will not only advance critical research and inform policy but also train the next generation of scientists, thought leaders and engaged citizens, preparing them to navigate the complexities of global change in this century.”

The funding will enable “infrastructure” improvements at the VIMS campus by constructing an outreach and education center alongside previously laid plans to build a new Chesapeake Bay Hall and a sea water lab. The monies would also go toward attracting scientists, researchers and students, and creating both new positions and public and private partners.

The improvements made to the school, it says, will build on the university’s Vision 2026 water initiative, which included unveiling the policy-focused Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative, formerly known as the Virginia Coastal Policy Center before its director resigned, last year.

There is “no specific link between the gift and the Virginia Coastal Resilience Collaborative,” Aday said, but the gift “does strengthen our focus on coastal science, and ensures that we will be at the forefront of educating leaders equipped to take on future challenges related to coastal resilience in the face of global change.”

Help with research

VIMS, which the Batten school will remain under, is required to provide studies on fishing industries, advise the Marine Resources Commission and “engage in research in marine sciences” under state law .

VIMS’ previous research on living shorelines — a coastal feature that can more naturally absorb wave impacts to reduce shoreline erosion in the Middle Peninsula — can provide $6.4 million in economic benefits to the state. VIMS also created the framework for how to conduct a $2.7 million Chesapeake Bay stock assessment of menhaden , the tiny nutrient-fish at the center of continual sustainability debates between recreational striped bass fishers and Omega Protein, the only menhaden reduction fishery in the Chesapeake Bay.

“ This gift does not change VIMS’s advisory role to the state, nor does it change the interdisciplinary work carried out by our students, staff, and faculty,” Aday said.

About the donor

Batten is a Virginia Beach-based philanthropist who has previously donated $10 million to the university and helped establish a couple of endowments to the Raymond A. Mason School of Business. She was married to the late Frank Batten, an entrepreneur who founded Landmark Communications and co-founded The Weather Channel, and served on William & Mary’s Board of Visitors in the 1990s.

The gift is the largest William & Mary has received in its 331-year history, according to the school. In addition to propping up the marine science program, university leaders hope the funding will attract further investments from state, federal and private sources toward a goal of raising at least another $100 million.

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