I am currently working as a postdoctoral research associate at Maine Sea Grant, engaged in the Marine Debris Challenge Project. The three-year project, Reducing Marine Debris at the Source: Material Replacement and Source Reduction for Single-Use Food Packaging, is supported by the NOAA National Sea Grant Program. As part of the project, a cross-disciplinary team, including members […]
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Like many undergraduate students studying oceanography or ocean sciences, I have a deep passion for nature. After all, who wouldn’t be fascinated by the ocean after spending years creating wonderful memories at the beach, watching the waves, or snorkeling for the first time among colorful sea creatures? However, after a few semesters at the Oceanographic […]
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Hi! I’m Nalika Lakmali, a third-year PhD student in Coastal Engineering at the University of Maine, Orono, where I research under the guidance of Dr. Kimberly Huguenard. My journey from Sri Lanka to the U.S. has been a surprising and life changing experience, especially as I’ve dived into the study of tidal dynamics along the […]
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One of my mom’s favorite jokes is that she has recurring dreams about me staying at the University of Maine forever, pursuing an endless stream of PhDs. Her subconscious ruminations are not completely unfounded, as I started my bachelor’s degree at UMaine back in 2014, and 10 years later I’m still here, still as passionate […]
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I am currently finishing up my PhD in the Brady lab at University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center (DMC). The DMC, its people, and its deep connections to Maine’s aquaculture industry have been a huge part of my career path. I have spent most of my life in Maine, growing up in Portland and attending […]
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I am currently a rising senior at Tufts University studying biology and environmental studies. I hope to pursue graduate studies in marine biology, but I was introduced to this field a little differently than many other students and professors I’ve spoken to, who seem to have discovered marine science on a whim. I grew up […]
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When I told my parents I was moving back to Monhegan for the third time to pursue my lobster license, my dad just shook his head and uttered what he had many times before, “you have one heck of a resume, kid.” He wasn’t wrong. After graduating from UMaine, my now husband and I set […]
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I honestly didn’t intend to become a professor. When I was applying to colleges, I knew that I loved animals, but didn’t have much direction besides that. As cliché as it may sound, a semester studying abroad changed everything. I had always joked that I was good at school, so I wished I could do […]
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Even though I knew from a pretty early age that I wanted to be scientist, I couldn’t quite name it as that. I knew I loved animals of all kinds, and the ones that lived in water were particularly interesting to me. I didn’t know how to become a scientist, the only scientists I knew […]
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Ocean and seafood were integral parts of the region where I spent my childhood. Growing up in Tianjin, China, a large port city on the west coast of the Bohai Gulf, I was naturally drawn to the sea. The proximity to the ocean meant that access to a variety of delicious seafood was a regular […]
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