Skip to content

GitHub Org Template for MBARI

Advancing marine science and engineering to understand our changing ocean

About MBARI

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) is a nonprofit oceanographic research center where scientists and engineers work together to explore and study the ocean. Founded in 1987 by David Packard, MBARI develops innovative tools and methods to understand the ocean and its role in our planet's systems.

Our Open Source Commitment

MBARI is committed to advancing ocean science through open collaboration. We share our software, data, and technology to:

  • 🌊 Accelerate marine science research
  • 🤝 Enable global scientific collaboration
  • 🔧 Provide tools for the oceanographic community
  • 📊 Promote reproducible research
  • 🎓 Support education and learning

Software Licensing

Most MBARI software is released under permissive open-source licenses to maximize scientific collaboration:

  • Apache 2.0 (Default) - Provides patent protection and is widely used in research
  • MIT - Simple, permissive license for utilities and libraries
  • BSD-3-Clause - Used for some legacy-compatible projects
  • GPL-3.0 - Used when ensuring derivatives remain open-source

See our Software Licensing Guide for details.

Getting Started

Using MBARI Software

  1. Browse our repositories
  2. Check the README for installation instructions
  3. Read the LICENSE file for usage terms
  4. Open issues for bugs or questions

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see individual project CONTRIBUTING.md files for guidelines.

General guidelines: - Fork the repository - Create a feature branch - Submit a pull request - Follow the project's code style - Add tests when applicable

Resources

Collaboration

Interested in collaborating with MBARI? - Visit our website - Contact our research teams - Explore partnership opportunities - Join our workshops and conferences

Citation

If you use MBARI software in your research, please cite the specific repository and include:

Software developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)
https://www.mbari.org

Individual projects may have specific citation requirements - check their README files.

Support

  • 💬 Discussions: Use GitHub Discussions on individual repositories
  • 🐛 Issues: Report bugs through GitHub Issues
  • 📧 Contact: TBD-general contact email

License

Unless otherwise noted, MBARI open-source projects are licensed under permissive licenses that encourage broad scientific use and collaboration. See individual repositories for specific license details.