Marine Scientists Find Whirlpool Role in Ocean Carbon Sink, Media Report

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

March 27, 2015 Climate Change, Research, UMaine in the News

The National Science Foundation, Hydro International, Science 2.0 and Phys.org reported on new research related to the North Atlantic Bloom, when millions of phytoplankton use sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2) to grow and reproduce at the ocean’s surface. When phytoplankton die, the carbon dioxide in their cells sinks. “But we wanted to find out what’s happening to the smaller, nonsinking phytoplankton cells from the bloom. Understanding the dynamics of the bloom and what happens to the carbon produced by it is important, especially for being able to predict how the oceans will affect atmospheric CO2 and ultimately climate,” said scientist Melissa Omand of the University of Rhode Island, co-author of a paper about the North Atlantic Bloom published in the journal Science. University of Maine Darling Marine Center researchers Mary Jane Perry, Ivona Cetinić and Nathan Briggs were part of the team with Omand, Amala Mahadevan of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Eric D’Asaro and Craig Lee of the University of Washington that did just that. They discovered the significant role that swirling currents, or eddies, play in pushing nonsinking carbon to ocean depths. “I feel that this project is a wonderful example of the chance discovery of an important process in the ocean carbon cycle,” Perry said.