2025 at the darling marine center

Photo credit: Hattie Stiles
Photo credit: UMaine Marketing
Photo credit: UMaine Marketing
Photo credit: Abby Remick/Michelle Staudinger
Photo credit: UMaine Marketing
Photo credit: UMaine Marketing
Photo credit: Hattie Stiles
Photo credit: Hattie Stiles
Photo credit: UMaine Marketing
Photo credit: Elisabeth Maxwell, UMaine Scientific Diving
  • The School of Marine Sciences (SMS) successfully continued its undergraduate Semester by the Sea (SBS) program in the fall, and launched an inaugural spring semester at the DMC.
  • The UMaine Scientific Diving program offered summer and fall courses on site with training, practical experience, and diver certification opportunities.
  • Fifteen summer interns worked collaboratively on projects involving lobster, water chemistry, biogeochemistry, ecology, and aquaculture.
  • Thirty incoming UMaine freshmen spent a week at the DMC exploring marine science topics on the Maine coast.
  • The DMC fleet secured two new vessels for education, outreach, and research along Maine’s coast.
  • DMC Vessel operations reconfigured the mooring field to better accommodate DMC and state vessels.
  • The touch tank exhibit in the Flowing Seawater Lab was upgraded with diverse habitats, specimens, and visual aides to serve as an educational resource for students and visitors.
  • Facility upgrades included new exterior stairs and decking on several buildings, enhanced roadway maintenance, and dining service improvements.
  • The DMC organized an information exchange focused on land-sea connections governing coastal water quality and aquatic habitat conditions with over sixty attendees from government agencies, consulting businesses, nonprofits, and peer institutions.
  • The DMC continues its legacy of aquaculture innovation by supporting courses, workshops, internships, and facility support for research lab spaces and institutional partnerships.
  • Resident faculty held an intensive month-long NASA-sponsored workshop on ocean color remote sensing and data applications, hosting future leaders in oceanography from around the world.
  • UMaine faculty and graduate students working at the DMC participated in research activities related to sea farming, fishery stock assessments, oceanography, and coastal and marine resource conservation.
  • Educators, scientists, and students from peer and partnering institutions across the country utilized the DMC facilities for teaching and research activities.
  • The DMC facilitated research and outreach partnerships with the Lobster Institute, Maine Sea Grant, Aquaculture Research Institute, and Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center to support coastal and marine research in Maine and beyond.

Greetings,

The Darling Marine Center continued onward in its sixtieth year with contributions to UMaine’s mission of integrating teaching, research, and outreach activities to improve the quality of life for people in Maine and around the world. From hands-on learning and scientific innovation to facility upgrades and administrative advancements, 2025 was a year of steadfast progress.

Looking back I am reminded of how grateful I am to be a part of the efforts to provide a safe and welcoming place for UMaine to connect people to our changing coastal watersheds, estuaries, and oceans. The Center’s accomplishments could not have been possible without the hard work of the DMC staff, the dedication of our residents and partners, and the curiosity of our students and visitors.

I look forward to continued research discoveries and advocacy for accessible, hands-on learning opportunities, and another year of commitment to environmental stewardship.

Here’s to fair winds and calm seas in 2026!

Sean M.C. Smith

Director, Darling Marine Center

College of Earth, Life, and Health