DMC offers free summer Wednesday morning tours
The University of Maine Darling Marine Center offers free, guided, 90-minute tours of its waterfront laboratories at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays through Aug. 19.
Ashley Rossin, an undergraduate student in the School of Marine Sciences and a DMC summer intern, is the tour guide. She recounts the history of the center’s founding — 50 years ago this year — and shares her perspective on the DMC today.
Scallops, crabs, lobster and squid are subjects of study in the wet lab. The histology lab focuses on deep-sea corals from Antarctica, Alaska and the Gulf of Maine, and the focus of the optics lab is to explore oceans using satellites and robots. Visitors to the aquaculture lab will learn how oysters are farmed and see the algae room where food for oysters is grown. Throughout the tour, scientists and other students will be available to discuss research, explain its significance, and answer questions.
Registration is not necessary; those wishing to take a tour can meet at the circle driveway on the lower waterfront campus. The center is at 193 Clarks Cove Road, seven miles from downtown Damariscotta. More information is online.