Marine Sciences

Close up view of a microscope

Three more UMaine students earn prestigious NSF graduate fellowships

Three University of Maine graduate students have received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The three fellows awarded in 2016 — incoming students Anna McGinn and William Kochtitzky in the Climate Change Institute and School of Earth and Climate Sciences, respectively, […]

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SEA Fellows explore university-industry marine partnerships

Eight students from Maine universities delved into the science and practice of marine aquaculture last week, thanks to an innovative new program developed by the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias. Students visited sites from Walpole to Eastport under the leadership of UMaine Darling Marine Center director Heather Leslie and UMM professor […]

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Skylar Bayer dishes on seafood in TEDx talk

Fish come from other fish. But understanding how fish reproduce, their habitat and how to care for them need to be valued if fishing is to continue in future generations. In Skylar Bayer’s humorous TEDxPiscataquaRiver talk titled “Why the Sex Lives of our Seafood Matter,” she discusses three iconic New England seafood species — Atlantic […]

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Learn to illustrate natural science at DMC workshop

Register by June 1 for the Natural Science Illustration Workshop held July 11–15 at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole. The workshop is for people who want to illustrate a natural history journal with sketches or watercolor, hone skills and talents to create scientifically accurate drawings, or plan to bring art and […]

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DMC to host shellfish farming workshop

Chris Davis, executive director of the Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, will instruct an “Applied Methods in Shellfish Farming Workshop” June 20–24 at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole. The intensive, hands-on workshop is intended to familiarize participants with practical methods used to cultivate commercially important bivalve molluscs, including oysters, mussels, clams and […]

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Fishermen in La Paz, Mexico

Fishermen’s decisions shaped by both climate, community distinctions

An international research team led by Heather Leslie found fishermen’s decisions are shaped by differences in both natural and social environments. The team discovered the community with stronger fishing rights exerted more control over fishermen’s decisions than communities with weaker rights, and did so in a way consistent with the impacts of climate variability on […]

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R/V Norseman II in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Waller explores spectacular coral colonies in Glacier Bay

Rhian Waller received an incredible gift to celebrate the National Park System’s 100th anniversary in 2016. The University of Maine associate professor led the first-ever extensive expedition of the underwater fjords in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska. “Glacier Bay National Park is such an amazing area, it’s very hard to put it […]

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Bear statue on UMaine's campus

UMaine’s 2016 Presidential Achievement Award winners

Faculty members in marine sciences, engineering technology and political science have been named recipients of Presidential Achievement Awards, the University of Maine’s top honors. Howard M. “Mac” Gray, professor of construction engineering technology, will receive the 2016 Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award; Neal R. Pettigrew, professor of oceanography, will receive the 2016 Presidential Research and Creative […]

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Temora longicornis

Behavior of tiny ‘intoxicated’ crustaceans can get them killed

Intoxicated people aren’t alone in engaging in risky behavior. Intoxicated tiny crustaceans in the ocean — or copepods — do too. And it can get them killed. Rachel Lasley-Rasher studies small shrimp-like animals that become intoxicated from grazing on blooms of toxic phytoplankton. The University of Maine marine researcher said the common calanoid copepods Temora […]

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