NEWS FROM MAINE SEA GRANT | SUMMER 2013 ------------------------------ *EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS* Maine Sea Grant is pleased to announce that Margot Mansfield, a recent UMaine graduate with a master’s in earth sciences, was selected for a NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship with the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. During the two-year fellowship, which began on August 1st, Mansfield will address competing marine resource use issues and promote beach and dune nourishment in Massachusetts as a viable and cost-effective climate change adaptation tool for shoreline protection. During her studies at the University of Maine, Mansfield was a research assistant on a 2010-2012 Maine Sea Grant research project, The Critical Leading Edge of Maine Salt Marshes<http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/research/projects/critical-leading-edge> . *EXTENSION HIGHLIGHTS* Congratulations to Ron Beard, a member of Maine’s Marine Extension Team, recipient of a Gulf of Maine Council 2013 Visionary Award<http://www.gulfofmaine.org/gomt/%3Fp=1761>. The award is presented annually to an individual or organization within each of the Gulf of Maine jurisdictions of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, and recognizes innovation, creativity, and commitment to marine protection. Beard, who is based in Hancock County, focuses his education on community development through work with local organizations and citizens. Extension associate Dana Morse is coordinating an effort to develop methods to culture native sea scallops<http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/research/projects/dv/scallop-trials>in response to declines of wild populations. With support from Sea Grant and the Maine Department of Marine Resources, shellfish growers and fishermen in Stonington, Blue Hill, and Casco Bay have been growing sea scallops in underwater enclosures. Since June 2012, the scallops have grown to two inches (the harvestable size of wild scallops is four inches). Limited initial tests have found biotoxins well below regulatory limits. Sales and marketing trials are planned for the near future. Media coverage, session notes, and presentations are now available for the Maine Beaches Conference <http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/maine-beaches-conference>held at Southern Maine Community College in July. The National Working Waterfront Network recently developed “talking points” to help those who communicate about the value and importance of the nation's working waterfronts<http://workingwaterfronts.ning.com/profiles/blogs/6509203:BlogPost:3465>. The talking points cover a diverse array of working waterfront topics, including: economic and cultural value, access to public resources and for shoreside operations, high profile marine industries, threat of loss, natural disaster mitigations/prevention, changes and trends, and regulatory and financing tools. In June, members of Maine's Climate Change Adaptation Providers' Network, coordinated by Maine Sea Grant and UMaine Extension, met with the NH Climate Adaptation Workgroup. Both groups are working in their states to facilitate community efforts to address local impacts of climate change. The two groups shared approaches to operating as effective networks, discussed current initiatives in communities, and identified next steps for advancement of their own networks and for collaboration between the two networks in regional efforts. Marine Extension Team leader and Sea Grant director Paul Anderson has been assisting the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center with outreach related to offshore wind energy development. Anderson has been serving as a liaison between fishermen and university engineers and researchers, facilitating conversations about siting infrastructure at times and locations of least impact to local fishing activity. *RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS* A technical review panel will meet in September to assess proposals for 2014-2016 research projects. A total of 15 out of 47 preliminary proposals were invited back as full proposals in May, with peer-reviews conducted over the last few months. Funding decisions will be announced in February 2014. *PUBLICATIONS * Introduction to Beach Profiling<https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=NaF7Pq2HkxA%26list=PL1D03F9D1A33CA78B%26index=3>, a video produced by UMaine Cooperative Extension. The “Sense of the Symposium<http://workingwaterfronts.ning.com/profiles/blogs/6509203:BlogPost:3461>” summary document from the 2013 Working Waterfronts & Waterways National Symposium. The Fisheries & Tourism Fact Sheet Series<http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/fisheries-tourism>provides basic information to help fishermen and aquaculture farmers get started in tourism. Cone, J. Creating research-based videos that can affect behavior<%20http://www.joe.org/joe/2013april/iw2.php>. Journal of Extension 51(2):2IAW2. Cone, J., S. Rowe, J. Borberg, E. Stancioff, B. Doore, and K. Grant. Reframing engagement methods for climate change adaptation<http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/Ycs5qIKh95mv5pqz6Njy/full%23.Ud4O8xaq-b0>. Coastal Management 41(4): online. *EVENTS* Maine Seaweed Scene<http://umaine.edu/news/blog/2013/08/19/seaweed-aquaculture-workshop-kelp-farming-class-to-be-offered-in-belfast/>| 29 August 2013 | Belfast, ME Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability<http://umaine.edu/mitchellcenter/news-events/mitchell-lecture-on-sustainability/>: Jane Lubchenco | 25 September 2013 | Orono, ME ------------------------------ Maine Sea Grant College Program | 5784 York Complex Building 6 | The University of Maine | Orono, ME 04469 (207) 581.1435 <%28207%29%20581-1435> | [log in to unmask] [image: Inline image 2] <http://www.seagrant.umaine.edu/> Subscribe <[log in to unmask]> | Unsubscribe<[log in to unmask]>