The UCSC Marine Macroalgal Herbarium Collection contains approximately 3300 pressed marine macroalgae representing more than 500 species, with records starting from the 1960's. These specimens were primarily collected and pressed as part of the UCSC Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Marine Botany Class, though a subset (~ 330) were collected and preserved at the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History. The physical specimens are housed at the UCSC Long Marine Lab. 

Most specimens are from Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, and San Mateo County, California, USA, but some specimens are from as far north as British Columbia, Canada, and Oregon, USA. Notable collectors and contributors include Isabella Aiona Abbott, Kathy Ann Miller, William Doyle, Julie Packard, and Vicki Pearse, among many other dedicated students, biologists and educators.