Chemical oceanography is a broad and complex study of the metamorphosis that the chemicals within oceans, living marine organisms, and the ocean floor undergo. The ocean contains a multitude of chemicals; some are natural, and others are man-made. These chemicals enter the sea in a number of ways. Chemical Oceanography is fundamentally interdisciplinary. The chemistry of the ocean is closely tied to ocean circulation, climate, the plants and animals that live in the ocean, and the exchange of material with the atmosphere, cryosphere, continents, and mantle. This diversity of influences on the chemistry of the ocean is represented by the research interests of the Chemical Oceanography faculty at the University of Washington, listed below, with links to the individual research groups. Modern chemical oceanography has been characterized by a substantial increase in the development and use of electronic instrumentation. However, the funding for instrumentation in oceanography generally lags behind related efforts in space research and biotechnology, forcing oceanographers to adapt “off the shelf” systems to the special conditions of pressure and salinity in the ocean. Traditional solution chemistry methods of chemical analysis on discrete samples collected from sampling bottles remain as the primary methodology, but are being replaced with automated (microprocessor controlled) analysers. The reliability of any analytical procedure depends on three factors: sample acquisition, handling, and storage; the analytical procedure; and calibration and standardization.