51С�Ƴ�

51С�Ƴ�marine science graduate students Timothy Harder and Margaret Meserve presented their research this fall at the 51С�Ƴ� Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) annual symposium, held this year in Block Island, Rhode Island.  This year’s symposium focused on the theme "Thinking Beyond Boundaries: Broader Perspectives in Coastal Ecology.”

Harder, working with Assistant Professor of Marine Science Charles Tilburg, Ph.D., spoke about the Saco River and the effects of human activities on the shape and characteristics of the channel in the estuary.

During the last 20 years, a significant amount of sediment has been removed from the system in an attempt to not only combat infilling for navigational purposes but also to nourish the adjacent beaches at Camp Ellis and Ferry Beach in Saco. Using a variety of techniques and equipment, including side scan sonar, an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP), and laboratory examination of sediment samples, Harder has been able to note the long term changes within the estuary as a result of human activity, in an attempt to guide further engineering practices related to this activity.

Meserve, working with Associate Professor of Marine Science Kathryn Ono, Ph.D., spoke about some of her preliminary results surrounding her research with Maine’s great blue herons.

In 2007, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife listed great blue herons as a Species of Special Concern in Maine because of its apparent decline along the coast. Meserve's project focuses on the breeding behavior of great blue herons in Maine, and, more specifically, on possible differences in brood provisioning rate in a coastal versus inland great blue heron colony. She has been working with biologists and citizen science volunteers with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for this project and plans to use her research to add to the knowledge of the condition of Maine’s great blue herons.

Both Harder and Meserve are graduate students in UNE’s National Science Foundation’s Grades K-12 Fellowship Program called SPARTACUS (a Systematic PARTnership Aimed at Connecting University and School). SPARTACUS is part of the NSF’s GK-12 Program, which forms linkages among researchers and their graduate students at 51С�Ƴ�with the area’s K-12 community.

The project does not just expose K-12 students to researchers at UNE; it engages K-12 students and teachers in authentic inquiry-based learning in their local environment. Place-based inquiry projects are used to engage students in active learning. Schools benefit from professional development of teachers and enrichment of the learning environment, while communities gain greater scientific and technical literacy. The schools encompass rural to urban settings, including the two largest and most ethnically diverse districts in Maine.

51С�Ƴ� Estuarine Research Society is a non-profit organization which includes members from educational institutions, non-profit, federal, state, and municipal agencies. The organization works toward the formal exchange of ideas to assist persons actively engaged in coastal and estuarine research and management. The NEERS conference was sponsored by the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, and included graduate students, professionals, and researchers from all around 51С�Ƴ�.