Palmyra Atoll in the tropical Pacific is the site of some exciting work by scientists from a diverse collection of research institutions. The Palmyra Atoll Research Consortium (PARC) fosters collaborative multi- and inter-disciplinary research by U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) agencies (USGS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service–USFWS), academic institutions (for example, Stanford University, University of California, and Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand) and non-governmental organizations (for example, American Museum of Natural History and The Nature Conservancy) on the terrestrial and marine ecosystems at Palmyra Atoll. USGS has been a member of PARC since its inception in 2004.

Palmyra functions as a living laboratory. It is a low-lying coral atoll located about 1,800 kilometers south/southwest of Hawaii near the equator in the central Pacific Ocean (latitude 5°53'N, longitude 162°05'W). Palmyra Atoll and nearby Kingman Reef are U.S. territories and represent the northern atolls/reefs of the U.S. Line Islands. Palmyra also is one of the nine sovereign territories of the United States commonly referred to as the U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIAs) that straddle the equator (fig. 1). Palmyra Atoll and nearby Kingman Reef also were included as part of the seven territories that comprise the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument set aside by President Bush in 2009 (Proclamation 8336), which includes the same territories as the PRIAS, except Rose Atoll and Midway Atoll.