Watershed Process and Estuary Sustainability Research Group

Drs. Lauren Ross and Neil Fisher visited Islesboro Island this week to install tide gauges and meet with community members, Island Institute staff ,and high school students to talk about tidal measurements and sea level rise. They were joined by Sean Smith who collected exploratory marsh samples related the history of tidal dynamics on the […]

The Estuary Builder Tool developed by WPES PhD candidate, Bea Van Dam, was highlighted in UMaine News and local (Bangor, Channel 7) evening news this week. The reporting focused on roll out of the coastal spatial data tool designed to aggregate information and knowledge about land sea connections influencing pollution problems and solutions on the […]

Grace Johnson won the graduate poster competition at the 2023 Maine Sustainability and Water Conference. The awarded poster summarizes research on Interpreting the Extent and Characteristics of Microplastics Pollution in Maine Freshwater Streams to Guide a Holistic Mitigation Strategy. Way to go Grace!!

Members of the WPES team attended the UMaine Office of Student Employment annual awards reception at Buchanan Hall. Cade King received the Undergraduate Student Employee of the Year award. Sean Smith received a nomination for Supervisor of the Year.

WPES Research Assistant, Cade King, received an award in the undergraduate student poster competition at the 2023 Maine Sustainability and Water Conference. The poster summarizes research on headwater stream diagnostic tools and the relation to large scale forest harvest operations in Northern Maine. Congratulations Cade!

WPES will be hosting a workshop sponsored by Maine Sea Grant on April 4, 2023. The afternoon workshop will focus on demonstration and applications of a coastal spatial data tool called the “Estuary Builder” developed by PhD Candidate, Bea Van Dam. Information about the workshop and registration can be found on the WPES Networking Web […]

WPES faculty, Lauren Ross and Sean Smith, presented results from their USGS NIWR sponsored research on harmful algae blooms to representatives from federal and state coastal resource management agencies, fishing industries, and research institutions at the 2023 Maine Fishermen’s Forum in Rockland, Maine. Two posters and animations of tidal hydrodynamics in Frenchman Bay were displayed […]

WPES research group contributed snowpack measurements on campus to the Maine Cooperative Snow Survey (see marker on maps just above Bangor) in support of the River Flow Advisory Commission’s annual meeting to report on hydrologic conditions in the state on March 2.  

WPES faculty member, Sean Smith, coauthored a publication in the journal, Innovative Higher Education, focused on the Covid 19 pandemic effects on research and scholarship activities. The research project was launched by the UMaine Faculty Senate’s Research and Scholarship Committee (chaired by Sean Smith) in the first year of the pandemic and led by Asli […]

Stability of channel morphology and aquatic habitat in a changing climate within forested mountain basins  John M. Buffington, U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Boise, ID Time:  Friday, November 4, 2 PM ; Location:  Hill Auditorium, Barrows Hall, University of Maine (Orono) A well-established paradigm in fluvial geomorphology is that alluvial rivers are adjusted […]