University of New England

Built on the coast of University of New England's Biddeford Campus, where the Saco River empties in to the Atlantic Ocean, the Marine Science Education and Research Center opened in fall 2001.

It is the only facility of its kind anywhere, bringing together research, education and marine animal rehabilitation on a university campus with both a coastal setting and a medical school.

The facility is giving University of New England faculty and visiting researchers a unique opportunity to create important new knowledge in marine science, the environment and human health. This state-of-the-art facility truly provides a window to the sea.

Current research now associated with the Marine Science Center include Provost/ Vice President for Academic Affairs Jacque Carter's investigation of the migratory habits of striped bass, medical professor David Koester's inquiry into how saltwater rays called skates "walk" along the ocean floor with leg-like appendages, and biology professor Stephan Zeeman's grant to establish a NASA Marine Remote Sensing Center, whose first project is to track the movements of right whales.

Kathy Ono, Ph.D., director of UNE's marine biology program, also recently garnered federal grant money to study how rehabilitated seals fare when returned to the ocean environment, the first of many potential research areas related to the MSC Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center.

As we move forward, one of the exciting potentials for research collaborations at UNE is between the marine scientists and the medical scientists in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. There are numerous opportunities for collaboration in the investigation of microbial ecology and marine diseases, which are emerging areas at the national level. Many people are excited about the prospects of discovering or developing marine pharmaceuticals-drugs from the sea.

Explore the links below to find out more about current research and research opportunities at the Marine Science Center:

• MSC Facilities
• Faculty Researchers
• Graduate Student Research

Some Current Research Projects:

• Coastal Observing System
• Saco River Water Quality
• Belize Grouper Culture and Telemetry Project
• Comparison of Health and Behavior Parameters in Rehabilitated Stranded and Wild Harbor Seal Pups
• Electric Organ of Skates and the Use of the Pelvic Fins of Skates for Locomotion
• Sea Urchin Fertilization
• Striped Bass Research
• UNE-NASA Joint Center For Marine Remote Sensing
• Dr. Sulikowski Elasmobranch research

Some Recent Research Projects

• Juvenile Cod Habitat in the Gulf of Maine
• Male Reproductive Success in a Colonial Marine Invertebrate
• Scallop Bed Reseeding