Public invited to SEA Fellows Symposium on Aug. 7 at DMC

Emma ober in a laboratory — College of the Atlantic undergraduate Emma Ober has been studying the feasibility of a green crab fishery in Maine and will present results at the SEA Fellows Symposium at the Darling Marine Center Aug. 7.

July 30, 2018 Marine Sciences, Outreach, Research, Signature and Emerging Areas

Students, researchers, fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs and other marine professionals will gather at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center 2-4:30 p.m. Aug. 7 for the third annual SEA Fellows Symposium.

UMaine and University of Maine at Machias President Joan Ferrini-Mundy will welcome participants to the student-centered symposium at 2 p.m. in Brooke Hall on the waterfront campus.

SEA (Science for Economic Impact & Application) Fellows is an innovative program developed by UMaine and UMM to catalyze university-industry partnerships. The program encourages use-inspired research related to Maine’s marine economy and the ecosystems and coastal communities that support it.

“The goal of SEA Fellows is to enable undergraduate students conducting applied marine research to communicate their findings to diverse audiences, including interested citizens and marine industry professionals,” says Heather Leslie, director of the DMC and co-founder of the program. “The symposium is open to everyone interested in research, development and technology transfer related to Maine’s coast and ocean.”

The symposium will feature poster presentations by 22 undergraduates working throughout Maine, who hail from UMaine, UMM and University of New England, among other institutions. The fellows have collaborated with academic researchers and marine industry professionals on topics ranging from impacts of coastal water quality on shellfish production and growth to the health of charismatic Maine species, including lobsters and seals, in the face of changing environmental conditions.

After the student poster and networking session, this public event will conclude with an optional tour of the DMC shellfish hatchery, business incubation facilities and waterfront.

All interested community members are invited to attend. Follow the SEA Fellows link on the DMC website to access the online RSVP form and for a list of student projects.

The program is funded by the University of Maine System’s Research Reinvestment Fund, the National Science Foundation award to Maine EPSCoR at the University of Maine, and in-kind support from the Darling Marine Center and UMM’s marine science field station, the Downeast Institute.