Michael Morris is an American biochemist, oceanographer and businessman, who has designed, developed and marketed new applications of optical sensing technology and spectroscopy.

[5][6][7] The miniature spectrometers introduced by Morris' Ocean Optics have wide applications in the food industry, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, aquaculture, the environment, medicine, dentistry, and forensics.

[1] Morris worked with Robert Byrne, Luis Garcia-Rubio, and Roy Walters from the University of Central Florida, on the development of a fiber-optic pH sensor for use in seawater.

[5][6][9][10][11][12] In 2009, an Ocean Optics QE65000 Spectrometer named "ALICE" was modified by Aurora Design & Technology for use in NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) mission.

ALICE measured ultraviolet light resulting from the impact of the Centaur upper rocket stage on the floor of the crater Cabeus.

[8] Three Ocean Optics HR2000 spectrometers were customized as part of the ChemCam unit of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, which was launched November 26, 2011.

[23][24][25] The Hope Diamond, in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, shows a distinctive red phosphorescent glow when exposed to ultraviolet light.

[22][26] The researchers discovered that all blue diamonds show red and green peaks in their phosphorescence spectrum, due to the presence of nitrogen and boron in the stones.

[36] Their small size means that they can be incorporated into scientific instruments that are used outside laboratories, in industrial production settings, on agricultural fields, for environmental monitoring, and for point of care medical use.