Heather is co-leading a major new research and graduate training initiative at the University of Maine, Maine eDNA. With support of the National Science Foundation, ecologists, geneticists, oceanographers, and other natural and social scientists from across the state are working together to develop new tools to tackle public health and fisheries challenges in Maine and […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
Masters student Melissa Britsch has gotten a new perspective on Maine’s coast and her research, thanks to UMaine’s Scientific Diving Program. Melissa’s reflection, in UMaine News: “I’m fascinated by the ocean and always have been. I grew up several hours from the coast and loved going to the beach,” says Britsch. “I’m interested in studying […]
Read more
Working Waterfront featured Heather Leslie, director of the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center in Walpole, in an article about the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries “State of the Science” conference, held June 17-18 at the University of Maine at Machias. The conference focused on the science needed to move towards more ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries […]
Read more
The Leslie Lab at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center invites current and past shellfish license-holders to participate in shellfish surveys in July on Damariscotta tidal flats. These surveys will help inform future stewardship of the shellfish resources managed jointly by the towns of Damariscotta and Newcastle. For more information or to volunteer, contact Pellowe at 303.895.7674. […]
Read more
Field notes by Kara Pellowe, University of Maine graduate student I have been studying the chocolate clam fishery in Loreto Bay National Park since 2013, as part of my dissertation research in University of Maine’s Graduate Program in Ecology and Environmental Sciences (EES). As a marine conservation scientist, I also work closely with faculty in […]
Read more
Heather was interviewed by Jenny Siefert of the Ocean Health Index team for a recent piece on the Ocean Health Index. The OHI was developed almost a decade ago through a collaboration convened at NCEAS, and has since been used in diverse countries and contexts to track the health of the ocean and progress of […]
Read more
Together with an international team of conservation scientists, Heather designed a new tool for understanding the state of the science and practice in ocean conservation. Learn more via the links below. Leslie helps design database to assess, guide ocean conservation efforts And from our colleagues at James Cook University, check out this great Conservation Planning […]
Read more
Kaitlyn Raffier is a rising senior at the University of Maine. She is completing a Bachelors of Science in Ecology and Environmental Science with a concentration in sustainability, environmental policy and natural resource management and also a Bachelors of Arts in Economics. For her internship at the DMC in Summer 2018, she developed a framework […]
Read more
Heather recently authored an invited commentary for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. She reflected of the significance of a recent research article on ecosystem-based management efforts in the Chesapeake Bay. Heather noted that marine ecosystem-based management (EBM) is not a singular approach, but rather a framework for managing people’s […]
Read more