Featured Students for July 2017
Graduate Student - Ali Chase
Ali grew up in central New Hampshire, but her interest in the ocean began at a young age during summer trips to Maine. She graduated from Bowdoin College, located in the central Maine 
coast, with a degree in Geology and Environmental Studies after having completed a senior thesis in Oceanography. After working for a couple of years at Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER, Inc.), a company located near Boston, she wanted the increased research leadership and variable opportunities that a graduate degree provides.
In 2012 Ali began her Master’s degree in Oceanography at the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences, and completed her thesis in 2014. The topic was the use of spectral absorption measurements, a type of optical oceanographic data, to detect different light-absorbing pigments found in various types of phytoplankton. Following her M.S. Ali has continued at UMaine as a PhD student, working in the lab of Emmanuel Boss and Lee Karp-Boss, and is studying further use of optical data to detect different phytoplankton types that live throughout the world’s oceans. This work uses measurements made from boats during oceanography research trips, and will enable the use of current and future satellite measurements to monitor and understand changes in global phytoplankton communities. Stay tuned through the lab website to see their current projects and the exciting data and results they are working with!
The other parts of life important to Ali are watching her baby son grow and change and spending time with her family, being outdoors to row, ski, run, and bike (and sometimes compete in a race), and enjoying beers with friends at one of Orono’s great local breweries.
Undergraduate Student - Grace Weise
Fresh from her undergraduate career at UMaine, Grace Weise is ready to take a short break, relax, and get ready for the next chapter.
Originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin, she had her heart set on just one school-UMaine and its School of Marine Science. She didn’t 
apply to any other school and hadn’t even visited the school until the Summer Orientation. She had been looking for a school with a marine science program but also wanted one with a wildlife program as a backup just in case her first choice didn’t work out. Fortunately, it worked out and now she has a degree in Marine Science with a concentration in marine biology and aquaculture. During her time at UMaine she worked with Dr. Lee Karp-Boss studying phytoplankton and did her capstone on how dinoflagellates are affected by turbulence. She’s glad she took marine science because it was broad enough to apply to so many other areas; learned a lot in many different areas of marine science.
She was able to take advantage of the Semester by the Sea program, also known as “marine science summer camp” by the students, at least until the winter sets in! She appreciated that whole days are set aside for the classes, allowing her and the other students to really focus on the subject matter, whether it was an oceanography lecture, field research at the tide pools, or gathering samples on a boat.
She loves her city of Green Bay and has pride in both her hometown on Lake Michigan and the local football team, the Green Bay Packers. The adjustment to Maine was good and she was definitely prepared for the winters. She hasn’t yet seen a moose here in Maine, but she plans to stay here in Maine awhile and continue her education at the University of New England, so she’ll still have her chance!