Maine Sea Grant

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, […]

Gayle Zydlewski Lower Penobscot Watershed Coalition www.covebrook.org/lpwc The Lower Penobscot Watershed Coalition and partners welcomed over 500 guests to the Bangor Waterfront to celebrate the return to a healthy river. Live music by Stiff Whisker and the Driftwood Kids, the Eric Green Band, and the Burnurwurbskek singers from the Penobscot Indian Nation, kept people entertained, […]

Nishanta Rajakaruna College of the Atlantic 105 Eden Street Bar Harbor, ME 04609 207.288.5015 ext. 261 nrajakaruna@coa.edu Plants that grow in metal-rich soils are often physiologically and taxonomically distinct populations, providing model systems to examine the process of plant evolution. Current understanding of how new plant species arise has benefited from research conducted on metal-tolerant […]

Habib Dagher 5793 AEWC Bldg, Room 142 University of Maine Orono, ME 04469 207.581.2138 In March, Sea Grant provided travel support for Danish environmental educator Søren Hermansen, who came to the University of Maine to speak about how his island of Samso, Denmark, became energy independent. Hermansen was named one of Time’s 2008 Heroes of […]

Ruth H. Carmichael University of Maine at Machias 9 O’Brien Ave. Machias, ME 04655 207.255.1206 Email Ruth Carmichael Maine is home to the northernmost population of the Atlantic horseshoe crab. Species at the edge of their range are often considered unique and potentially fragile. If Maine’s horseshoe crabs are at the fringe of their viable […]