Maine Sea Grant

Annette deCharon Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences PO Box 475 West Boothbay Harbor, ME 04575 207.633.9600 adecharon@bigelow.org The Maine Intertidal Zone Investigation will provide an opportunity for Maine students and educators to learn about the state’s rocky shore habitats. MITZI uses an interactive gallery of images and information about the intertidal zone to teach basic […]

John Riley Dept. of Biological and Chemical Engineering University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2715 riley@apollo.umenfa.maine.edu Mick Peterson Dept. of Mechanical Engineering University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2129 mpeterson@umeme.maine.edu Commercial fisheries, maritime shipping, and whale watching are all economically important to Maine. However, they also can negatively impact whales, which can collide with ships […]

Will Hopkins Cobscook Bay Resource Center 4 Favor St. Eastport, ME 04631 207.853.6607 willhopkins@prexar.com Protecting working waterfront and preserving coastal access is a critical need in Maine’s coastal communities. In this pilot project, researchers will interview harbormasters, town officials, and resource users to document public and private access points around Cobscook Bay, geo-locate the sites […]

Thomas Trott Suffolk University 41 Temple Street Boston, MA 02114-4280 617.573.8246 codfish2@earthlink.net Among the New England coastal states, the least is known about invasive species introductions and distributions in Maine. Information about the status of the Maine coastal environment and the health and diversity of habitats impacted by invasive species is needed for local and […]

William Ambrose Carnegie Science Hall Bates College Lewiston, ME 04240 207. 786.6114 wambrose@abacus.bates.edu In the past decade, fishery scientists, managers, and ecologists have expressed increasing concern about the effects of commercial fisheries on benthic communities. Although the effects of dredges and trawls on sub-tidal, hard and soft bottom communities have been studied, very few studies […]

Hilary Neckles USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center 196 Whitten Road Augusta, ME 04330 207-622-8205 ext.119 hneckles@usgs.gov Eelgrass (Zostera marina L) is the dominant seagrass occurring in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, where it often forms extensive meadows in coastal and estuarine areas. Eelgrass beds are extremely productive and provide many valuable ecological functions […]

Pat White Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation PO Box 523 Kennebunk, ME 04043 207-985-8088 The commercial lobster fishery, the economic engine for so many coastal communities in the Gulf of Maine, is undergoing extreme changes. In 2008, an apparent drop in landings, lower prices paid to lobstermen for their product, and rising fuel and bait […]

Scott Hall Research Coordinator Audubon Seabird Restoration Program Belfast, ME 04915 Most information about Atlantic puffins is derived from studies of their breeding colonies on Maine's outer coastal islands. Where they go during the winter, when they are thought to roam the ocean from the Gulf of Maine to Greenland and Iceland, however, is still […]

Heather Koopman Biology and Marine Biology University of North Carolina Wilmington 601 S. College Road Wilmington, NC 28401 910.962.7199 koopmanh@uncw.edu This project continued exploratory work funded by Sea Grant in 2007 (DV-07-009) to evaluate various factors influencing the quality of eggs produced by American lobsters. Larger lobster eggs have been shown to have higher lipid […]

Jean MacRae Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2137 Jean.macrae@umit.maine.edu Marine and freshwater environments are vulnerable to pollution from spills, shipping and boating activity, runoff, and waste discharge. Many organic contaminants accumulate in sediment where they can affect habitat and the health of marine organisms. Once in the sediment, […]