“Dear Anna, Congratulations! On behalf of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs…” were the first words I read with half-asleep eyes, from the email sent at 2 in the morning, Philippine time. The Young Southeast Asian Leadership Program was a program revered by my peers; competition was high, especially for […]
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Always a child who would rather be outside than anywhere else, it was on the cliffs of Acadia on a ranger-led tide pooling walk that I decided I wanted to be a marine biologist. My dreams shifted many times after that, but the path found me again when I entered Northeastern University as part of […]
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I’ve always loved the ocean since I was a little kid. Though I grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., my earliest memories are of my parents taking me tidepooling in Northern California and watching the sea otters play at Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’ve always been captivated by the exotic and mysterious forms that […]
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“You’ve got Maine on the brain,” my father used to tell me. Growing up in Memphis, TN, I often found my thoughts drifting far beyond my urban hometown, captivated by the idea of Maine’s sweeping landscapes and vast beauty. Growing up in the bustling city streets of Memphis cultivated my passion for human connection and […]
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I’m Dylan, a high school student based in San Diego, California. This spring I got to turn my passion for the ocean into hands-on experience at the University of Maine’s Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR). During the month of May, I worked as a student intern, shadowing CCAR’s Aquaculture Research and Education Program Coordinator […]
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Walking along the shore always brings back fond memories of when my mother and I would stroll along the Tanzanian coast, where I spent much of my childhood. We used to fly kites, pretend to be mermaids, and marvel at the many sea turtles we’d meet. I distinctly remember the day I saw my first […]
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If you had told me a few years ago that I would be living in Maine and studying how contamination moves through the tidal waters and affects sea-run fish, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. My journey to marine science wasn’t exactly traditional. I grew up in Kansas and earned my bachelor’s degree in Biological […]
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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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