The Hawai‘i Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) was established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the University of Hawai‘i. Its mission is to study deep water marine processes in the Pacific Ocean. HURL builds its research program through an annual request for proposals. Projects are selected through peer review and by a scientific advisory panel. In addition, HURL accepts funded requests from private, state, or federal agencies and participates in international collaborative research projects in the Pacific.

In today's world, policy makers face increasing pressure to find long-term solutions to critical problems. Solutions to these problems may come from the ocean, by far the largest untapped resource potential on earth. Therefore, undersea research offers a great opportunity for new discovery and development. During the next few years HURL's Pacific-wide research projects will focus on deep-sea geology and ecosystems and their contribution to global climatic and ecosystem changes. Projects will include the geology and biology of emerging and subsiding islands, marine product and fishery assessments, and processes of submarine mineral accumulations on seamounts, volcanoes, and islands. Baseline information will be gathered on deep-sea marine ecosystems influenced by natural and man-induced processes.