Residents can step inside one of the oldest marine research labs on the West Coast on Saturday, Aug. 22, when Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory hosts its next Science and Sunsets evening in Corona del Mar.
The event, listed on the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce website, runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the lab's waterfront location at 101 Dahlia Ave. Tickets are $75 for adults and $40 for college students, available through kml.caltech.edu.
The monthly series offers dinner and cocktails inside the Spanish-style building with its white exterior, red-tile roof and central tower, perched at the mouth of Newport Harbor. It's part of a broader push by the Caltech-owned facility to connect with the community as it approaches its centennial in 2030.
"First and foremost we want to do research, but people have got to know that this place exists," lab operations manager Stephen Ranson told the Daily Pilot in September 2025, describing the outreach philosophy behind events like Science and Sunsets.
Ranson is the lab's only paid employee. He manages day-to-day operations at a facility that has been conducting marine science on the Corona del Mar waterfront since 1930. Director Victoria Orphan, James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology at Caltech, leads the research program.
Current work at the lab includes studying eelgrass in Newport Harbor, which serves as nursery habitat for fish and helps protect coastal property from sediment erosion. Scientists there are also researching microbes that capture methane and investigating algal blooms that harm marine life. In collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the team has built a 4-foot bright yellow autonomous vehicle that maps eelgrass and algae beds on the harbor floor using sonar and geochemical sensors.
In a LAist profile published in August 2026, Orphan described the lab's appeal: "There's something just really magical about marine stations. They're rustic, so it's not like you're going into a fully polished clean room. But that's part of the charm and you really feel the history."
Beyond the monthly sunset events, the lab offers free open houses on Tuesdays, a summer camp for children, beach cleanups and a speaker series. The Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce can be reached at (949) 729-4401.
Upcoming in Newport Beach
- Through Sunday, Aug. 16: Newport Beach Art Week, featuring a free concert and 300-artwork exhibition across multiple venues.
- Saturday, Aug. 22: Science and Sunsets at Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory, 6:30–8:30 p.m. Tickets at kml.caltech.edu.
