College News

dive lobster marine ocean

Happy 20th birthday to the School of Marine Sciences!

The School of Marine Sciences (SMS) was founded on July 1, 1996, by faculty from the former Departments of Oceanography, Botany and Plant Pathology, and Zoology. Together, SMS had three strengths: 1) marine organismal, population and ecosystem biology, and aquaculture; 2) physical and biogeochemical marine sciences; and 3) marine policy. SMS now contains the largest […]

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Antarctica Pollution

Climate scientists: Australian uranium mining pollutes Antarctic

Uranium mining in Australia is polluting the Antarctic, about 6,000 nautical miles away. University of Maine climate scientists made the discovery during the first high-resolution continuous examination of a northern Antarctic Peninsula ice core. Ice core data reveal a significant increase in uranium concentration that coincides with open pit mining in the Southern Hemisphere, most […]

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Kimberley Rain Miner

Emerging environmental leader earns prestigious Switzer Fellowship

Kimberley Rain Miner, Ph.D. candidate in Earth and climate sciences at the University of Maine, was recently selected as a Switzer Environmental Fellow by the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation. This year, the Switzer Foundation awarded 20 fellowships of $15,000 each for emerging environmental leaders who are pursuing graduate degrees and are dedicated to positive […]

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NSF microscope

Three more UMaine students earn prestigious NSF graduate fellowships

Three University of Maine graduate students have received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. The three fellows awarded in 2016 — incoming students Anna McGinn and William Kochtitzky in the Climate Change Institute and School of Earth and Climate Sciences, respectively, […]

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Chen lab boat ocean marine

UMaine graduate students help inform sustainable ocean management practices

Nineteen graduate students in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine are helping ensure that European fisheries sustainably utilize ocean resources. The students participated in 20 stock assessment student reviews for European fisheries in early June through the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). ICES is the oldest intergovernmental […]

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SEA Fellows coast students

SEA Fellows explore university-industry marine partnerships

Eight students from Maine universities delved into the science and practice of marine aquaculture last week, thanks to an innovative new program developed by the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias. Students visited sites from Walpole to Eastport under the leadership of UMaine Darling Marine Center director Heather Leslie and UMM professor […]

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Inilchek Glacier

Grigholm: Ice cores indicate increases in atmospheric heavy metals

Glacial ice core records indicate that humans have significantly altered the atmosphere in Central Asia during the 20th century, say climate scientists from the University of Maine. Climate Change Institute researchers say evidence from ice cores extracted from Inilchek Glacier in the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan reveals that rapid growth of industry and agriculture […]

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Saltmarsh Sparrow

Olsen recommends local habitat protection to save Saltmarsh Sparrows

When Laura Garey wades into tidal marshes at sunrise to survey Saltmarsh Sparrows, the University of Maine graduate student also spies deflated balloons, trash and pollutants. These reservoirs at the intersection of land and sea also are increasingly being damaged by coastal development, sea-level rise and more frequent storm surges. All of which makes it […]

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fisher fishermen climate change mexico

Fishers’ decisions shaped by both climate, community distinctions

An international research team led by Heather Leslie found fishers’ decisions are shaped by differences in both natural and social environments. The team discovered the community with stronger fishing rights exerted more control over fishers’ decisions than communities with weaker rights, and did so in a way consistent with the impacts of climate variability on […]

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