Student science symposium Aug. 6 at the Darling Marine Center

Walpole, Maine — Ongoing research in aquaculture, wild-caught fisheries and Maine’s marine economy by University of Maine students and scientists, as well as industry and community partners statewide, will be the focus of the fourth annual SEA Fellows Symposium Aug. 6 at the UMaine Darling Marine Center in Walpole.

The symposium, which is free and open to the public, begins at 2 p.m. and will feature remarks by Dannel Malloy, chancellor of the University of Maine System, and Joan Ferrini-Mundy, president of the University of Maine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias (UMM). In addition to poster sessions and presentations by student researchers, there will be tours of the Darling Center’s waterfront laboratories and business incubation facilities.

This year’s SEA Fellows projects include studies of how clams, oysters and other coastal marine species respond to changing environmental conditions; how changes to post-harvest storage of lobster may increase value; and emerging information on the ecological, economic and social factors that contribute to sustainable aquaculture and fisheries in Maine.

SEA (Science for Economic Impact and Application) Fellows is an undergraduate training program led by UMaine and UMM, with support from Darling Marine Center, Downeast Institute and Maine EPSCoR. It is designed to catalyze university-industry partnerships, and support undergraduate research related to Maine’s marine economy and the coastal marine ecosystems and human communities that support it.

“The goal of SEA Fellows is to enable undergraduate students conducting applied marine research to communicate their findings to diverse audiences, including interested citizens and marine industry professionals,” says Heather Leslie, director of the Darling Marine Center and UMaine associate professor of marine sciences, who leads the program with Brian Beal, director of research at Downeast Institute and UMM professor of marine ecology. “The symposium is open to everyone interested in research, development and technology transfer related to Maine’s coast and ocean.”

The Darling Marine Center is located at 193 Clarks Cove Road, Walpole. The symposium will be held in Brooke Hall on the lower waterfront campus. More information about the symposium and an RSVP form are online. To request a reasonable accommodation, call 207.563.8144.