November is National Native American Heritage Month, a time to recognize “the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the United States.” On Thanksgiving, we come together in shared humanity and celebration of the lands and waters that sustain us. The original residents of the continent accommodated European colonists, shared […]
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Our Director for Research, Dr. Damian Brady published a paper along with Dr. Robert Steneck and former graduate student, Jennifer McHenry (lead author) titled, Abiotic proxies for predictive mapping of near-shore benthic assemblages: Implications for marine spatial planning. In this paper researchers identified important habitat variables and spatial gradients that correlate with abundance, diversity, and […]
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Between the head of tide above Bangor to where it widens into the bay at Searsport, the Penobscot River shifts from a flowing freshwater waterway banked by cedar and pine to a brackish, wave-lapped marsh with a rocky shoreline. In this estuary, salt concentrations fluctuate as the winds and tides push sea water and sediments […]
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This year I had the privilege to travel to the Netherlands as part of my sabbatical research on the topic of stakeholder engagement in community planning for flood defense. The process included interviews with 15 Dutch practitioners from all levels of government, as well as private contractors, community groups and non-profit organizations. The result was […]
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NOTE: This blog was written by Nicole Ramberg-Pihl, a graduate student at the University of Maine, working on a Sea Grant-funded project with Dr. Hamish Greig, Dr. Stephen Coglan, and Dr. Joseph Zydlewski. Atlantic salmon have a vibrant history woven into that of Maine’s culture. After spending about one to three years in freshwater, they migrate to […]
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Effects of temperature and ocean acidification on larval lobster development – UMaine graduate student, Jesica Waller, along with Dr. Rick Wahle and colleagues published a paper on the joint effects of ocean acidification and rising temperature on larval lobster development. Their results suggest that elevated temperatures associated with projected end-century warming trends cause larvae to develop faster but […]
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from UMaine News Access to Maine’s beaches and coastal areas can sometimes be a challenge. According to the latest analysis of property ownership data by the Maine Coastal Program, the public owns just 12 percent of Maine’s 5,400-mile shoreline. Public rights to the rest of the coast vary considerably, from submerged areas below low tide […]
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NOTE: This blog was written by Jacque Miller, a graduate student at the University of Maine, working on a Sea Grant-funded project with Dr. Alice Kelley I left Kansas in June of this year to begin a Master’s program in Earth and Climate Sciences at UMaine, Orono with Dr. Alice Kelley. The project I work on is titled […]
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Along the coast of Maine are places where, twice each day, rivers flow backwards and then forwards in an everchanging diorama of freshwater, saltwater, rollocking rapids and tranquil calms. These are the eight “tidal” or “reversing” falls, found where rivers and bays make a narrow passage to meet the sea. These places are not many. In Harpswell, […]
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NOTE: This blog was written by Thew Suskiewicz, a graduate student at Université Laval in Quebec working on a Sea Grant funded project with Dr. Robert Steneck These are dynamic times for the Gulf of Maine. Over the past decade, water temperatures here have risen faster than almost anywhere on the planet, and already fishermen and researchers are noticing drastic […]
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