WALPOLE — Scientists, students and staff at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center are gearing up for a busy summer season. More than 20 undergraduate and high school student interns will participate in research projects this summer at the DMC’s Walpole campus and nearby field sites on topics ranging from the biology of oysters and lobsters to the physics and chemistry of the ocean environment.

Researchers based at the DMC year-round will be joined by visiting scientists from a variety of institutions, including Brown University, Dartmouth College, Franklin & Marshall College and the University of North Carolina. Visiting college groups from as far away as Utah also will join the DMC community this summer to investigate the ecology of the estuary and nearby ocean ecosystems.

“We are looking forward to welcoming visiting scientists and college groups back to campus this summer,” said DMC Director Heather Leslie, in a news release. “While our core group of faculty, graduate students and staff have been working on campus throughout the pandemic, this summer will be the first since 2019 that we are able to host students and visiting groups at the same level as earlier years.”

Summer science seminars will be hosted by the DMC in July, as well as campus tours. These events will be ticketed and advertised through the lab’s social media channels and website beginning in June.

The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state's land grant, sea grant and space grant university, with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. UMaine is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation. UMaine Machias is located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation. As Maine's flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is the state's public research university and a Carnegie R1 top-tier research institution. It attracts students from all 50 states and 81 countries. UMaine currently enrolls 11,989 undergraduate and graduate students, and UMaine Machias enrolls 747 undergraduates. Our students have opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research with world-class scholars. UMaine offers more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn master's, doctoral or professional science master's degrees, as well as graduate certificates. UMaine Machias offers 18 degree programs. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide to conserve energy, recycle and adhere to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu and machias.edu.