Environment @ UMaine

Maine-eDNA update

University of Maine researchers and collaborators – including multiple members of the Leslie Lab – are leading the way in an emerging field that combines environmental science and genetics, revolutionizing how scientists understand and monitor our state’s 3,500 miles of coastline that our marine ecosystems depend on. Read on…

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New ocean renewable energy project

Jess and Heather have been awarded funds from the Northeast Sea Grant Consortium to conduct social science that supports the coexistence of marine energy, including wind, current, tidal and wave energies, with Northeast fishing and coastal communities. Their project, Building Capacity for Participatory Approaches to Community Resilience and Ocean Renewable Energy Siting, will characterize values and beliefs […]

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Chadbourne, Damariscotta R Estuary

Summer shellfish project launched

Sarah Risley is leading a team of undergraduate and high school students to study shellfish species living at several sites along the upper Damariscotta River and document local knowledge of the estuary held by fishermen and other local residents. Read the full article in the Lincoln County News HERE 

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Heather participates in State of the University address

Heather Leslie was invited by University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy to represent the many UMaine faculty, students, staff and alums who have participated in the Maine Climate Council over the last year and a half. Heather shared her reflection at minute 44 of the State of the University address on February 11, 2021.

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Maine Climate Science & Action

Heather gave the DMC’s final summer science seminar of 2020: Climate Science and Action for Maine’s Coast and Coastal Communities. Watch this and all the DMC summer seminars here. Heather serves as co-lead of the Maine Climate Council’s Coastal and Marine Working Group. Together with 37 other leading scientists, resource managers, municipal officials, and other […]

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New statewide coastal ecosystem project

Maine’s coastal ecosystems, from lakes to rivers, estuaries and nearshore waters, are impacted by numerous stressors, including ocean warming, fisheries declines, and invasive species. This new, statewide project funded by the US National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR Program – Maine-eDNA – will advance ecological understanding of coastal systems and build scientific and practical capacity to translate this […]

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Heather on MPBN

Thanks to MPBN Maine Calling for a great radio experience last week! If you’d like to learn more about the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center and all that we are celebrating in this 50th anniversary year, our piece is a great one to listen to: http://news.mpbn.net/post/maines-aquaculture-and-50th-anniversary-darling-marine-center 

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Environment & health

Victoria Brown, Class of 2015, authored this essay for Engaged Environmental Communication and Scholarship, the capstone course Prof. Leslie taught as part of the Voss Environmental Fellows Program in Spring 2016. Here, in her own words, Victoria reflects on what engaged scholarship means to her.  I walked past rows and rows of women, some sitting in […]

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