Maine Marine Geologist Sam Roy is Hooked on Public Service
Article by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
On his specialization …
Sam Roy, now a Maine Geological Survey marine geologist, grew up in Oakland, Maine. He was one of those kids with rocks strewn along his windowsills and pockets full of shells. His parents, both educators, nurtured his scientific inquiry with local Maine adventures: rockhounding in tourmaline quarries, paddling river rapids, and walking the nooks and crannies of the meandering coastline. An earth science major then was an obvious fit when Sam enrolled as an undergraduate at UMaine and then shifted into a master’s in structural geology.
By the time he became a doctoral student in geodynamics at UMaine, Sam was laser focused on studying landscape evolution over the geologic timescale. It’s a very specific discipline — theoretical geophysics — that uses complex computer modeling to explore the dynamic processes that shape the Earth. It’s such a niche that Sam figured his future job prospects would be limited.
“I thought that the only opportunity out there was to get into academia, become a professor, and do research and publish papers, and that’s it,” Roy said.
On his transition to the Mitchell Center…
As Roy neared completion of his doctorate in 2015, a postdoctoral research opportunity at the Mitchell Center grabbed his attention. The position involved working on two consecutive, interdisciplinary National Science Foundation funded projects: the Safe Beaches & Shellfish project and the Future of Dams project.
The goal of the Safe Beaches & Shellfish project was to improve strategies for managing coastal water quality impairment, whereas The Future of Dams project focused on helping governments, communities, and other stakeholders improve the process of making decisions about New England’s aging dam infrastructure.
Roy didn’t know a whole lot about the Mitchell Center at the time, but his love of Maine’s people and waterways as well as the the interdisciplinary nature of the projects piqued his interest. He applied and was offered the position, grateful to David Hart, the Mitchell Center’s director, for “tossing the dice and giving me a chance,” he said.
Roy’s advanced skills in computer modeling quickly became a valuable asset to the team. For the Future of Dams project, he theorized, for instance, what a dammed river might look like if the dam was removed, an action that may have complicated implications for the people and wildlife who live on and near a river.
For the Safe Beaches & Shellfish project, he created models to predict what conditions in a watershed might create higher potential for contamination that can close Maine’s mudflats. These types of projections are critical for folks economically connected to the natural resource, like shellfish harvesters.
For the first time in his life, Sam’s research was directly connected to the people of Maine. “The Mitchell Center was my first opportunity to really apply scientific knowledge and be helpful to my community. I got hooked. I’m addicted to this type of work now,” Roy said.
He also took on an educator role, teaching classes as a research assistant professor and managing interns, during his time at the Mitchell Center. Like his parents and his siblings, all who are teachers, Roy has a penchant for teaching, and believes that the Mitchell Center offers a unique educational opportunity for students.
“I see the Mitchell Center as an opportunity to train the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists. I think that’s where the innovation in science has to come from. It’s the relationships between scientists that I think needs to improve,” he said.
On his role in Maine state government…
Roy completed his role with the Mitchell Center in 2021 and began working in Maine state government, first with the Maine Emergency Management Agency and now as a marine geologist.
Currently, he is working on a five-year National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded project mapping Maine’s bluffs which constitute about 45% of the coast. A bluff is a landscape feature at or near the coastline that has at least three feet of relief and is composed of unconsolidated sediment. In Maine, these sediments often come as glacial till, clay, or a mix of sand and gravel. Coastal bluffs are eye-catching and serve as valuable real estate locations, but they are also ecologically important, providing a source of sediment for beaches and marshes.
Bluffs, however, are susceptible to erosion caused by waves, wind, and storms. The idea behind the mapping is to create a public resource that can be used to protect Maine’s bluffs. A coastal town, for example, will eventually be able to consult the maps to see which bluffs are prone to erosion and to help them understand the best ways to stabilize their shorelines. Methods range from revegetating disturbed bluffs with native plants to hybrid approaches using a mix of stones and organic materials. Roy also thinks the maps will help the state and municipalities with their decision-making and policy development.
It’s a time-consuming and lengthy project, but one that Roy believes he’s better equipped to manage because of his time at the Mitchell Center. Beyond his skillset of working within a large interdisciplinary team, he credits the center for training him to be patient and to always remember that community input should be at the heart of developing solutions to complex problems.
On his continued relationship with the Mitchell Center…
Roy continues to serve as a faculty fellow at the Mitchell Center in order to collaborate on projects from sea-run fish migration to landslide hazards and because of the important lifelong relationships he has made.
He also has an ulterior motive — his inquisitiveness has him pondering the long line of state government employees nearing retirement age. He sees the Mitchell Center as part of the future solution because it can serve as a pipeline to bring students into roles at the state level. Roy hopes the Mitchell Center can expand its roles in helping students from across UMaine see how public service in state and local government can be a rewarding career path.
“Working at the Mitchell Center definitely opened my eyes to so many opportunities to use science for good. I love what they do, and I hope that they can do it forever because it’s the best gig at UMaine. It’s one of the best opportunities out there to help people with the power of science,” Roy said.