FHL hosts conferences, retreats, workshops, and field trips from September through May; Applications are accepted 6 months in advance. Please note that March and September are our busiest months for conferences and those dates fill up quickly. Our quietest months are December through February.
When FHL courses are not in session (that is, mid-December to late March and the month of September), our facilities can accommodate and feed up to ~150 persons, if most are sharing bedrooms. For a typical large conference at FHL with students in shared dorm rooms/huts and faculty in private bedrooms (shared cottages or apartments), the number of participants is 100-125.
If you already have a group reservation, please be sure to review our information for group organizers on Planning and Preparing for your Event at FHL.
Housing
For images of the types of FHL housing, click on the link below:
The campus of FHL has three dormitory buildings as well as numerous other housing units of various sizes and kinds.
The dormitories consist of eight single-occupancy and 25 double-occupancy rooms, for a total of 58 single beds. Each dorm room has one or two beds, dressers, and desks. Two of the three dorm buildings have men’s and women’s restrooms with showers; the third has access to bathrooms through a covered breezeway to the other dormitory buildings. The 15 Huts are small buildings with electric light and heat; each is approximately 125 square feet and furnished with one double (=full) bed, a small desk, and a dresser. The Huts are a short walk from restrooms and showers in the dorm buildings.
All together, the huts and dorms have 73 beds in 48 rooms/huts.
Other housing units include twelve (one- and two-bedroom) apartments, twelve two-bedroom cottages, and eight (one- and two-bedroom) duplex units. All of these units include a bathroom and living/dining area, as well as a kitchen equipped with major appliances, dishes, silverware, pots and pans. These units are available when the dorms and huts are occupied or for those conference participants with families or special needs.
For additional information, please email the FHL Visitor Coordinator.
Food Service
FHL Food Services provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the spacious Dining Hall, with dining capacity of 120 (+ 30 on the deck, weather allowing). Manager Megan Connelly will work with group organizers to plan their menus, which may include special meals (e.g. salmon dinners) as well as snack (fruit, cookie, pastry) trays and coffee service between meals. In the Dining Hall, only food from FHL Food Services is allowed. Sometimes groups request meals or other food/beverages in the Commons, which may be provided by FHL or an outside caterer. In all cases, any food served on campus must follow UW Environmental Health and Safety criteria. If the Dining Hall is closed, small groups staying in the dorms or huts will be given access to the Commons kitchen for food preparation.
Alcoholic beverages: If a group plans to serve alcoholic beverages at FHL, the organizers are responsible for obtaining the required University of Washington approval AND Washington State permits.
Meeting Rooms
Equipment available for use in our meeting rooms includes: LCD projector-, slide-, and 17mm-projectors; PA system; ten bifold poster kiosks, each one with four surfaces (47″ wide x 41″ high) for mounting posters; and VCR/Monitor.
The Commons is a large room adjacent to the dormitories, with a maximum occupancy of 75. It has blackboards, projection screen, large folding tables, chairs and an adjoining kitchen. The room can be darkened.
The Lecture Hall is located next to the Dining Hall, and has a maximum occupancy of 75. It has a whiteboard, projector, screen, and table/chairs. The room can be darkened.
The Dining Hall has a maximum occupancy of 150 people. It is equipped with round tables, chairs, fireplace with upholstered seating, piano, ping pong table, projection screen, and pull-down shades to darken the room.
The Computer Lab, adjacent to the Fernald Building, is a room that easily seats 18 people at tables, and has 15 student iMacs, a larger presenter iMac, projector, and screen. Light from windows is minimal.
The Fernald Classroom is a small room in the Fernald Building that seats 14 around a large table. It has a projector and whiteboard. Light from windows is minimal.
The Conference Room is also in the Fernald Building. It is furnished with couches around a fireplace, a large table that can seat 12, and a projection screen. It can be set up with a projector, and has curtains to darken the room.
Teaching Laboratories
The teaching laboratories at FHL include several buildings of about 1,500 square feet each. In each building, running sea water free from metallic contamination is delivered to plexiglass aquaria and water tables through polyethylene or PVC pipes and fittings. Chairs and tables/desks accommodate as many as 20 students in a building. Student microscopes and other equipment can be borrowed from the stockroom for use in the labs.
Marine Equipment
A research vessel, the R/V Kittiwake, is available for groups. It is equipped for dredging, net hauls, and CTD deployment and water sampling. For additional information, contact the Marine Operations Manager.
Rowboats are also available to groups after they have received a rowboat orientation from the FHL Boat Safety Officer.
Campus Tours
Tours of FHL may be available during your visit, depending on availability and weather. Please contact Jodi VanderYacht for more information and to schedule a tour.