I'm still in San Diego, looking for distinctive landmarks that set it apart from other regions in California. So far, my impressions are that this "big small town" exists in a literal desert bounded by Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, and that it's main unique features are aircraft carriers, old and new.

An exception is the Birch Aquarium operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, a unit of the University of California. Scripps, now celebrating its 100th anniversary, has long been synonymous with oceanography. Like Woods Hole in MA, Scripps is one of the places that the discipline was invented.

The Birch originally was a simple affair, a collection of ocean-water tanks containing bright marine flora and fauna: mainly, fish. And that's how it remained until relatively recently, when the Birch finally acquired an executive director, Dr. Nigella Hillgarth, capable of formulating a vision for the Birch other than just showing off local fin folk. In fact, the Birch's newly expanded mission, accompanying a four-fold increase in its floorspace, is complex: describing and visualizing for the public the hundreds of research projects ongoing within Scripps, most of which are abstruse but many of which are relevant to the general public.

"The challenge we face," said David Krimmell, a designer and Manager of Exhibits whom I interviewed on a recent visit to the Birch, "is portraying the full range of exciting science taking place within Scripps to a visitor population that's largely parents with seven-year-olds in tow." David, an artist who joined the Birch after earlier stints with other local exhibitions, faces a few other challenges that exhibition designers elsewhere will recognize: limited floorspace, limited access to technology, and a budget that shows no signs of imminent expansion, other than whatever new revenues the Birch can itself generate via visits.