The University of Maine is a designated Sea Grant College. Since 1971, Sea Grant has been supporting marine science for Maine people (learn more about our history). We are one of 34 NOAA Sea Grant programs throughout the coastal and Great Lakes states, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The network is a powerful resource for sharing information and solving problems.  Learn more about our network activities.

We are focused on Maine’s coastal communities. In partnership with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, members of our Marine Extension Team work on issues of concern to Maine’s coastal communities. A 25-member advisory committee helps identify stakeholder needs and ensures that our work is relevant to the people of Maine.

We sponsor scientific research that matters to those who depend on Maine’s coastal and marine resources. Learn more about current research projects and funding opportunities.

We develop tomorrow’s marine workforce through formal and informal education programs, fellowships and scholarships.

We at Maine Sea Grant would like to publicly reaffirm our commitment to programming and outreach that promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion, as framed by the National Sea Grant Network vision, Reaching Outward and Looking Inward. As a network, we have committed to work as a catalyst of conversation. Maine Sea Grant has a concerted effort underway to integrate education and awareness of racism and social justice into our team’s approach and activities at all levels. We are committed to converting our learning into change, through work with our many partners and communities toward a shared goal of ending systemic racism.

We thank the Wabanaki people for their stewardship of the land and associated waters and continued strength and resilience in protecting it.

Maine Sea Grant acknowledges that all of our work across Maine, from the Piscataqua River to Passamaquoddy Bay, is carried out on the tribal lands and waters of the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Mi’kmaq, collectively known as the Wabanaki people. We recognize they are distinct, sovereign, legal and political entities with their own powers of self-governance and self-determination. We also acknowledge that the University of Maine–our home institution–and its endowment benefited from the sales of tribal lands seized in 14 additional states. This legacy of encroachment on tribal lands continues to this day. Maine Sea Grant has benefitted from this history and has a responsibility to address ongoing injustice. We offer this acknowledgment as a step toward reconciliation.

Fundamentally, our program fosters and amplifies innovation and problem solving to support the well-being of people and ecosystems. The relationship the Wabanaki people have with the natural environment is one that our program is learning from. We believe that seeking out opportunities for relationship building and collaboration with tribal nation members can help our mission to advance sustainability and stewardship for people and our shared environment. Our environment is as dynamic and as changing as the legacy and leadership of those who care for it.

As an organization, Maine Sea Grant is committed to:

  • actively developing relationships with the multiple Tribal Nations in Maine,
  • understanding tribal approaches and incorporating wisdom of tribal leaders in our work,
  • adapting our activities and organizational resources to honor Tribal sovereignty, and
  • dedicating support toward collaboration and the needs of Tribal Nations and communities.