The Oceanographic Institute of the University of São Paulo (, IO-USP), due to its name in Portuguese, was founded in 1946. It began as an independent institute, sponsored by the government, but was later incorporated into the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

, in 1951. It was founded to provide scientific research and data in support of

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

and exploitation of all the available marine

resources ''Resource'' refers to all the materials available in our environment which are Technology, technologically accessible, Economics, economically feasible and Culture, culturally Sustainability, sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and want ...

along the

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

, especially in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. IO-USP was transformed into a University Unit in 1972 and started to offer post-graduate Masters courses in biological and

physical oceanography Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is div ...

in 1973. It offers an undergraduate course as well and performs many different types of research. Now, the institute has two departments -

Biological Oceanography Biological oceanography is the study of how organisms affect and are affected by the physics, chemistry, and geology of the oceanographic system. Biological oceanography may also be referred to as ocean ecology, in which the root word of ecology ...

and Physical, Chemical, and Geological Oceanography. The institute has 34 teachers and around 150 general non-teaching workers.

Research vessels

The institution has the support of three major vessels - the W. Besnard Oceanographic Ship, as well as the Albacora and the Veliger, used mostly by the graduation students in their field research.

Research bases

The institute has two research bases - the Dr. João de Paiva Carvalho base, in the estuarine city of

Cananéia Cananéia is the southernmost city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, near where the Tordesilhas Line passed. The population in 2020 was 12,541 and its area is 1,242.010 km². The elevation is 8 m. The city of Cananéia is host to the Dr. Jo ...

, and the Clarimundo de Jesus base, in the coastal city of

Ubatuba Ubatuba is a Brazilian municipality, located on the northeast coast, in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 92,819 (2021 est.) in an area of 723.88 km2, of wh ...

. Both are equipped with advanced laboratories and sufficient research vessels, with the fundamental support of the main vessel, the W. Besnard Oceanographic Ship.

External links

* http://io.usp.br (in Portuguese) * https://web.archive.org/web/20071224193530/http://www.io.usp.br/english/index_en.html (in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Oceanographic Institute of the University of Sao Paulo Oceanographic organizations Science and technology in Brazil University of São Paulo 1946 establishments in Brazil Universities and colleges established in 1946