Boothbay Sea and Science Center (BSSC) has hired Elizabeth Langton as the waterfront director for the center’s summer 2015 integrated sea and science programs for youth ages 5-17.

Langton has a master’s degree in marine science with a focus on cold water coral from the University of Wales (now Bangor University) on the island of Anglesey in North Wales, United Kingdom.

She began her research career studying the potential use of seaweeds and microalgae for the production of methane and alcohol as energy resources. In 1980 she joined the staff at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science and worked with Dr. Charlie Yentsch to gather ground truth data for the satellite-mounted Coastal Zone Color Scanner, which was used to map chlorophyll concentrations in water, salinity and temperature in the North Atlantic and subsequently lead to international efforts to understand the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle.

Langton was also funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) National Undersea Research Program to dive as deep as 1,000 ft deep in manned submersibles, to study benthic communities, such as scallop beds and coral gardens in the Gulf of Maine.

In 2010 she went to the Gulf of Mexico on board NOAA’s research vessel Henry B. Bigelow assessing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. More recently she has worked for the Maine Department of Marine Resources on movements of rainbow smelt and other diadromous fish as they travel upstream to spawn.

One of Langton’s greatest joys is to share her adventures in the marine environment with young people. She taught field courses on St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands for Fairleigh Dickinson University, on Sandy Hook in New Jersey for Brookdale Community College, and at the Tobago Marine Research Center on the island of Tobago in the Caribbean.

Her teaching has included college level courses in marine biology and environmental science, as well as field studies for grades 3-12. She is best known in Midcoast Maine for her many years as a volunteer and on staff of the Girl Scouts of Maine.

West Boothbay Harbor has been home to the Langton’s Friendship sloops, Content and now Queequeg, since the mid-1980s.

Langton and her husband Richard served as commodores of the Friendship Sloop Society (FSS) and have been editors of the FSS Yearbook for 14 years. Their two children, Ruthie and Robert, now in their twenties, enjoy family sailing in the summer and skiing in the winter. They live in Edgecomb in their post and beam home that they built from trees on their land.

BSSC is accepting registrations for its summer 2015 integrated sea and science programs. For more information, visit www.boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org or email info@boothbayseaandsciencecenter.org.