Jesica Waller, Noah Oppenheim and Skylar Bayer, graduate students at the Darling Maine Center (DMC), have received awards and recognition from the University of Maine. All three students are in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences and are advisees of Dr. Rick Wahle.

Waller received a 2015-2016 Canadian-American Center Fellowship from the UMaine Canadian-American Center. The fellowship encourages international collaboration between graduate students on issues relevant to both countries. Waller was funded to continue her master’s research on how lobster larvae will respond to climate change and ocean acidification on the developmental and genetic level, which includes a collaboration with Dr. Spencer Greenwood at the University of Prince Edward Island. The fellowship covers a year of tuition and a nine-month stipend.

Master’s student Oppenheim received the George F. Dow Graduate Scholarship, presented by UMaine’s College of Natural Science Forestry and Agriculture (NSFA). By evaluating the use of the American Lobster Settlement Index in recruitment models, Oppehnheim’s research takes an interdisciplinary approach to forecasting lobster landings and investigating how different lobster industry stakeholder groups conceptualize and use scientific information. George F. Dow Graduate Scholarship Fund was established in 1975 with gifts from and in honor of Dr. George Dow ’27. Income from the fund is used to provide scholarship assistance to graduate students.

Ph.D. candidate Bayer received two awards, the Janet Waldron Doctoral Research Fellowship (JWDRF) and the NSFA’s Outstanding Service Award. The JWDRF recognizes cutting edge research and high productivity by doctoral students and their advisors. Bayer’s dissertation focuses on fertilization dynamics of giant sea scallop populations, but the concepts and results may be applicable to other shellfish species as well. The Outstanding Service Award recognizes Bayer for her dedication and passion for teaching engaging students in science, which she does through her blog “Strictlyfishwrap,” a Twitter account, and participating in Story Collider.

The DMC is proud of these dedicated students and wishes them continued success.

The Darling Marine Center, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, is the marine laboratory of the University of Maine. It is located on the Damariscotta River Estuary in Maine's Midcoast region. To learn more about the DMC, visit dmc.umaine.edu.