Ted Ames, Recipient of a 2005 MacArthur “Genius Grant”, to Give UMaine Lecture in April

Contact: Judy Round 581-5104

ORONO, Maine — Ted Ames, member of Stonington Fisheries Alliance (SFA) and captain/owner of the FV Mary Elizabeth in the Zone C lobster fishery, will give the 2007 University of Maine Geddes W. Simpson Distinguished Lecture. The lecture is scheduled for 3 p.m. April 11 in the McIntire Room of UMaine’s Buchanan Alumni House.

Ames has fished for ground fish and scallops for 24 years, lobsters for 26 years, and has extensive additional fisheries experience. He has authored several peer-reviewed articles on fisheries. Ames has a master’s degree in biochemistry from UMaine with a specialty in tissue culture.  He has six years research experience. Ames also developed and was director of an environmental and water quality laboratory, Alden-Ames Laboratory in Stonington, for three years. He spent ten years as an instructor/teacher of chemistry, biochemistry and environmental science. He was vice-chair of the Maine Department of Marine Resources Hatchery Technology Association for five years, chair of the Stonington Harbor Committee for 10 years, and executive director of the Maine Gillnetters Association for four years. 

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation named Ames as a new Fellow in 2005. MacArthur Fellows are appointed based upon their outstanding accomplishments and continued potential to make creative and important contributions to their fields. Because Fellows are named without any application on their part, and because of the size of the awards, these fellowships are often called the “genius grants.” Ames received the coveted award for his groundbreaking studies of spawning, habitat and fishing practices in the Gulf of Maine.

The family of Geddes Wilson Simpson established the Geddes W. Simpson Lecture Series Fund at the University of Maine Foundation in 2001. Simpson was a well-respected University of Maine faculty member for 55 years, chair of the Entomology Department and editor at the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. He retired from UMaine in 1974.