Solutions to ocean and coastal acidification hat support Maine’s coastal communities
Principal Investigator: Aaron Strong (UMaine School of Marine Sciences)
Partners: Esperanza Stancioff (UMaine, Cooperative Extension/Sea Grant) Damian Brady (UMaine, SMS/DMC), Parker Gassett (UMaine, SMS)
Abstract: Ocean and coastal acidification is an emergent threat to the communities and livelihoods of coastal Mainers, potentially risking hundred of coastal jobs and millions of dollars in lost revenue to our coastal marine economy. In order to address this dual environmental/economic threat, we propose an undergraduate student research project to help support a coupled participatory vulnerability assessment and solutions-barrier analysis to encourage the development of new business-based solutions and potentially job-saving adaptive management -responses to acidification in Maine. The student will work directly with the Maine Ocean and Coastal Acidification Partnership, PI Aaron Strong, and a School of Marine Sciences graduate student to conduct research and highlight pathways toward actionable solutions to acidification in Maine, including seaweed aquaculture, adaptations in oyster aquaculture, and decision-support tools for commercial fishermen.