Marine Sciences

Phillip Levin

Conservation scientist to talk about perspectives, solutions at DMC

Conservation scientist Phillip Levin will give a free public talk titled “Integrating diverse perspectives to create conservation solutions that benefit nature and people” at 7 p.m. Oct. 17 in Brooke Hall at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center. The seminar, co-sponsored by the DMC and The Nature Conservancy in Maine, will focus on challenges […]

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Scallop

Reading the genetic signature of the sea scallop

Scallops are one of the most profitable fisheries in Maine, with a statewide value of nearly $7 million in 2016. The scallop fishery is also one of the most local, with small “day boats” staying close to shore. Landings (and populations) have fluctuated over the years, with the latest peaks in the mid-1980s and 1990s. […]

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Marine sciences students attend boot camp

First-year students take the plunge at marine sciences boot camp

Boot Camp 2017 marked the fifth year of a popular three-day orientation program for first-year students in the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences. Thirty first-year marine science students spent time in, on and under the water with faculty and staff who will be their instructors at UMaine. Held the week before the beginning […]

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Coast of Maine

SEA Fellows share research about lobster shell strength, scallop farming

More than 70 students, researchers, fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs and other marine professionals recently gathered at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center for the 2nd annual SEA Fellows Summer Science Symposium. Undergraduate students from across Maine — including UMaine, the University of Maine at Machias and Colby College — shared their research on topics ranging […]

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Fishermen in Eastport, Maine

Maine fishermen: adapting in a sea of change

Increasing environmental uncertainty coupled with rapidly changing market conditions in the Gulf of Maine raise important questions about the ability of Maine’s commercial fishermen to adapt. How resilient is the industry to these shifting waters? Who is best positioned to adapt and who is most vulnerable? “We have started to explore these questions by studying […]

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DMC welcomes Boothbay Sea and Science Center campers

Boothbay Sea and Science Center campers capped off their summer program with a recent daylong visit to the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole. Nearly 30 campers, ages 5–13, learned about shellfish aquaculture with Lili Pugh, DMC’s K–12 education coordinator. “To understand aquaculture, one must know the science,” Pugh says. “Understanding water quality, […]

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Fishing

UMaine receives $1.5M award to advance Maine’s marine economy

The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) recently announced a $1.5 million award to the University of Maine to support a major waterfront infrastructure investment at the Darling Marine Center (DMC), UMaine’s marine laboratory in Walpole, that will benefit marine industries statewide. Together with matching funds from UMaine and state marine bond funds, the EDA award […]

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Gulf of Maine

Longer, stronger summers in the Gulf of Maine

Summer is coming to the Gulf of Maine, longer and warmer than ever — as much as two months longer. That’s the message of a new research article by a team of scientists led by Andrew Thomas of the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences. The study, published in the journal Elementa, examined the […]

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Flexible squid movement focus of summer research at DMC

A visiting team of researchers studied features of muscles that control squid maneuverability this summer at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center. Squid move to capture prey, elude predators and compete for access to mates. The idea for the research sparked five years ago during a conversation among scientists Ian Bartol, Paul Krueger and […]

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