Darling Marine Center news

Ruleo Camacho

Ruleo Camacho: Promoting coral reef health

A graduate student at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center received a Young Investigator Award Honorable Mention at the 9th Florida State University Mote Symposium in October. Ruleo Camacho, who is a pursuing a dual master’s degree in marine biology and marine policy, presented his thesis research, “Antigua’s Community Based No-Take Reserves: Developing a […]

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Ocean waves

Leslie reviews ecosystem-based ocean management approaches

The director of the University of Maine Darling Marine Center says ecosystem-based approaches to restore ocean health provide a flexible framework for marine management and allow scientists and stakeholders to move beyond reactive and piecemeal solutions. “Ecosystem-based management (EBM) accounts for the diverse connections between people and oceans and the trade-offs inherent in managing for […]

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Underwater scene with tropical fish

Human-marine environment interactions crux of DMC director’s study

Heather Leslie, director of the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, is leading a research project to deepen her interdisciplinary investigations of ecological and human dimensions of small-scale fisheries in Mexico’s Baja peninsula. A $1.79 million award from the National Science Foundation’s Coupled Natural and Human (CNH) Systems Program funds the three-year project. “My studies […]

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Shrimp

Researcher finds it takes guts to locate elusive shrimp

Rachel Lasley-Rasher wanted to learn more about highly mobile shrimp that are important food for baleen whales and commercial fish along the continental shelf from Cape Hatteras to Nova Scotia. Because of their significance in the marine food web, she said a better understanding of shrimp migration patterns could fill knowledge gaps and help predict […]

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Al Jazeera English interviews DMC student about lobster research

Jesica D. Waller, a graduate student at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center, was interviewed for an Al Jazeera English television piece about ocean acidification and lobsters. “The cause for worry is really we don’t know enough to worry,” says Waller, whose research focuses on how American lobster larvae develop in acidic ocean conditions. […]

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Sea slug

DMC scientist: Sea slug sniffs out seaweed’s chemicals, then stalks its prey

An underwater sea slug has evolved chemical foraging and defense abilities that are functionally identical to those of terrestrial insects, despite being unrelated to their land-based counterparts and living in vastly different habitats for 400 million years. “Specialized herbivores on land and sea appear to make a living in similar ways,” says University of Maine […]

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Buoy data to inform how aquaculture fits into working waterfront

University of Maine scientists have deployed an ocean-observing buoy at the mouth of the Damariscotta River to help scientists understand how different types and scales of aquaculture can fit into Maine’s multi-use working waterfront. The buoy is part of a National Science Foundation’s Sustainable Ecological Aquaculture Network (SEANET) project geared to assist the aquaculture sector […]

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Darling Marine Center director travels to share ocean science developments

The new director of the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole will log considerable miles on land and sea Sept. 21–23 to discuss ocean science and ocean stewardship. Sept. 21, Heather Leslie will talk about opportunities and challenges for engaged research on the Maine coast during a Senator George J. Mitchell Center for […]

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