Public invited to SEA Fellows Symposium

Students, researchers, fishermen, aquaculturists, and marine professionals will gather at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center on August 16 for the second annual SEA Fellows Summer Science Symposium. The program starts at 2 p.m.

SEA (Science for Economic Impact & Application) Fellows was initiated by the UMaine and UMaine at Machias (UMM) to catalyze university-industry partnerships. The program encourages undergraduate research related to Maine’s marine economy, ecosystems, and coastal communities that support it.

“The SEA Fellows Symposium is a venue for undergraduate students conducting applied marine research to gain experience communicating their findings to diverse audiences,” says Heather Leslie, director of the DMC and co-founder of the program.

This year’s symposium will feature poster presentations from 20 undergraduates from UMaine, UMM, Colby College, and other institutions. Working from Saco to Beals Island, the fellows have collaborated with academic researchers and marine industry professionals on topics ranging from lobster physiology and disease to the impacts of coastal water quality on shellfish growth.  Descriptions of the student projects are posted on the DMC’s website, dmc.umaine.edu.

The symposium is open to all students, community members, and marine professionals who are interested in research, development, and technology transfer related to Maine’s coast and ocean.The poster presentations will take place from 2-4 p.m. in Brooke Hall on the lower DMC campus. After the student poster and networking session, this public event will conclude with a tour of the DMC shellfish hatchery, business incubation facilities, and waterfront laboratories. The program will wrap up by 5 p.m. The SEA Fellows Symposium is free and open to the public. For a disability accommodation, please call 207.563.3146.

The SEA Fellows program is funded by a National Science Foundation award to Maine EPSCoR at the University of Maine, and in-kind support from the DMC and the Downeast Institute, UMM’s marine field station.

EPSCoR is an acronym for the NSF’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Maine EPSCoR received a $20 million, five-year grant to advance Maine’s research capacity and promote innovation while providing benefits to society. This is accomplished through an extensive network of statewide collaborations that involve over 350 researchers, students,  and more than 200 community-based stakeholders.