Marine Biological Station, Sado Island Center for Ecological Sustainability, Niigata University is located on the northwestern shore of Sado Island, Japan. Sado Island is 50 km far from Niigata City and it takes 2 hours 30 minutes by car ferry or 67 minutes by jetfoil. The station is ideally situated for marine biological teaching and research within easy reach of a variety of marine habitats, such as rocky and sandy shores.

In Sado Island, there are 3 field stations (University Forest, Research Station for Toki and Ecological Restoration, and Marine Biological Station) of Sado Island Center for Ecological Sustainability, Niigata University and we are promoting biological research and education in cooperation with the other two stations. Also, we are promoting a joint usage for education of marine biology with other universities. Current research programs include work on reproductive endocrinology, neuroendocrinology, ecology and evolutionary developmental biology.

◊ IMBC2025 has been held (July 22-29th, 2025)

SMBS organised the International Marine Biology Course (IMBC) 2025 on July 22-29, 2025, which was a hybrid of in-person and online practical courses. Eighteen students and four researchers from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Viet Nam, Hong Kong, New Caledonia and Japan have joined the in-person course. Fifty-seven overseas students have also taken part in the online course. Participants learned about marine biodiversity and animal evolution at Sado Island. The report of this course can be found below.

 Report (pdf, 0.8 MB)

This program was supported by the Sakura Science Exchange Program from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). We appreciate all the support we received.

 

Group photos of in-person and online courses at IMBC2024

 

Left: Animal sampling at rocky shore. Right: Microplastic sampling at Tassha beach.

(updated on 2025.08.11)