Kauffman Aquaculture Center
The Kauffman Aquaculture Center (KAC) lies 30 miles north of VIMS' main campus on a tributary of the Rappahanock River known as Locklies Creek.
The Kauffman Center was specifically designed to enhance and extend the work and facilities of VIMS' Aquaculture Genetics and Breeding Technology Center (ABC). ABC was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1997 to explore and promote the development of aquaculture in the Commonwealth.
The Kauffman Center significantly expands the scope of aquaculture research at VIMS by providing a facility that was specifically designed to hold both native and non-native species in quarantine. Current use of the facility focuses on studies of the native oyster Crassostrea virginica.
The Kauffman Center features four separate laboratories that were each purpose-built to protect Chesapeake Bay and its living resources from disease, parasites, and the unintentional introduction of non-natives.
Construction of the $1.4 million Center was funded through a challenge grant by Boots and Jack Kauffman, with matching grants provided by Mr. Matthew T. Blackwood; the D. Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment, Inc.; Mr. and Mrs. Weston F. Conley, Jr. and Family; Dominion; Mr. and Mrs. John P.D. Kauffman; The Elis Olsson Memorial Foundation; Mr. and Mrs. E. Claiborne Robins, Jr.; Mr. and Mrs. James E. Rogers; and the Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation.