Lincoln County News features UMaine graduate student-led citizen science program

The Lincoln County News reported that Sarah Risley, a University of Maine graduate student based at the Darling Marine Center, will lead a team of undergraduate and high school students to study the shellfish species living at several sites along the upper Damariscotta River and document local knowledge of the estuary held by fishermen and other local residents. The information gathered from this program, which is now in its fourth season, will be used to help inform future management by the shellfish committee in coordination with the state’s Department of Marine Resources. “We are working as a team of local scientists, students, educators, harvesters and municipal leaders to collect information on shellfish and document how the estuary is changing,” Risley said.