Darling Marine Center

Marine fisheries provide many benefits to coastal communities. Fisheries generate food, provide employment and economic profit through the supply chain, and play an important role in a sense of community and individual identity. University of Maine researchers Heather Leslie and Kara Pellowe are studying the diverse benefits provided by fisheries in partnership with harvesters and […]

The University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center in Walpole recently welcomed Dr. Meg Estapa, Libra Assistant Professor of Chemical Oceanography in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences. Estapa comes to the center from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York where she was Assistant Professor of Geosciences. However, this isn’t Estapa’s first time calling midcoast Maine […]

Walpole, Maine — Last month University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Dana Gartzke visited Walpole for a tour of a waterfront infrastructure improvement project that commenced earlier this year at University of Maine’s marine laboratory, the Darling Marine Center. The tour led by DMC Director Heather […]

Over the past decade, Maine has seen 2.2% annual growth in aquaculture, which has had an overall economic impact of $140 million annually. Tackling the growing challenges for the sector — from emerging finfish and shellfish diseases to the effects of climate change — is critical. To address these challenges, an Aquaculture Experiment Station has […]

Dr. Jeremy Rich, a University of Maine professor based at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, was recently promoted to Associate Professor and awarded tenure. Rich lives in Newcastle and is an environmental microbiologist in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences. Rich was one of 29 faculty members from the University of Maine to receive tenure […]

Dr. Rhian Waller, a University of Maine Associate Professor based at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, was recently granted tenure. Waller lives in Jefferson and is a cold-water coral biologist in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences. Waller was one of twenty-nine faculty members from the University of Maine to receive tenure or promotion this […]

Bob Steneck, a University of Maine School of Marine Sciences faculty member, is an internationally recognized marine ecologist whose research expertise ranges from coral reefs and kelp forests to fisheries and marine conservation and management. He received the 2020 UMaine Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award. This award is given annually in acknowledgment of a […]

Larry Mayer has long contributed to the mission of the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center and its community. In fall 2019, he retired after 43 years of research and teaching — but that doesn’t mean that he’s taking it easy. Shortly following his retirement, Mayer taught a senior college course hosted at the DMC. […]

How people fish matters perhaps as much as the quantity harvested, say University of Maine researchers Kara Pellowe and Heather Leslie. Their study published in Ecosphere details the impacts of size-selective fishing on an economically important species of clam in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The information is critical for fisheries managers to design policies that balance short- […]