SEA Fellows Symposium at DMC August 7

Students, researchers, fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs and other marine professionals will gather at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center on Tuesday, Aug. 7 from 2-4:30 p.m. for the third annual SEA Fellows Summer Science Symposium. The event will take place in Brooke Hall on the DMC’s waterfront campus.

University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy will welcome participants to the student-centered symposium at 2 p.m.

SEA (Science for Economic Impact & Application) Fellows is an innovative program developed by the University of Maine and the University of Maine at Machias to catalyze university-industry partnerships. The program encourages use-inspired research related to Maine’s marine economy and the ecosystems and coastal communities that support it.

“The goal of SEA Fellows is to enable undergraduate students conducting applied marine research communicate their findings to diverse audiences, including interested citizens and marine industry professionals,” says Heather Leslie, director of the DMC and co-founder of the program. “The symposium is open to everyone interested in research, development and technology transfer related to Maine’s coast and ocean.”

The symposium will feature poster presentations by 22 undergraduates working throughout Maine, who hail from UMaine, UMM and University of New England, among other institutions. This year’s fellows have collaborated with academic researchers and marine industry professionals on topics ranging from impacts of coastal water quality on shellfish growth and production to the health of charismatic Maine species like lobsters and seals in the face of changing environmental conditions.

After the student poster and networking session, this public event will conclude with an optional tour of the DMC shellfish hatchery, business incubation facilities and waterfront.

All interested community members are invited to attend. Follow the SEA Fellows link on the DMC’s homepage to access the online RSVP form and see a list of student projects.

The program is funded by the University of Maine System’s Research Reinvestment Fund, the National Science Foundation award to Maine EPSCoR at the University of Maine, and in-kind support from UMaine’s Darling Marine Center and UMM’s marine science field station, the Downeast Institute.

Contacts: Linda Healy, lhealy@maine.edu; Heather Leslie, heather.leslie@maine.edu