San Antonio Zoo has opened a working coral restoration lab, hundreds of miles from the nearest reef. The zoo opened the Brewer Ocean Conservation Lab on June 1, 2026, World Reef Awareness Day, with a ribbon cutting attended by the Brewer family, city council members, donors and conservation partners.
The facility is the first of its kind at the zoo. It grows deep-water Texas and international coral species for restoration work carried out with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Saving Animals From Extinction program, and it doubles as a public space where guests can watch that work happen.
A lab, not a display
“This is not just another exhibit; this is a working research and restoration lab,” said Tim Morrow, president and CEO of San Antonio Zoo. “Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems on the planet. Through the Brewer Ocean Conservation Lab, we are cultivating corals right here in San Antonio and helping restore reefs for future generations.”
Alongside the propagation tanks, the space carries interactive educational programming aimed at getting visitors close to an ecosystem most of them will never dive on. Coral reefs support roughly 25 percent of all marine life while facing pressure from climate change, pollution, disease and habitat loss.
Named for a geology professor
The lab was funded by Robert and Amy Brewer and the Brewer family in honor of the late R.P. Brewer III, a San Antonio College geology professor.
“We hope this lab sparks the same joy and wonder in every visitor that my father found in a lifetime of education and discovery,” said Robert Brewer, his son. “We wanted to provide San Antonio families a firsthand experience of the ‘rainforest of the seas’ and help educate our community about how critically endangered coral reefs are across the globe.”
Morrow and the Brewers were joined for the ribbon cutting by San Antonio city councilwomen Marina Alderete Gavito and Phyllis Viagran, along with the zoo’s 2026 King of the Jungle, Christopher Arce, and Queen of the Jungle, Diane Eckerle.
