Marine Biology

School of Marine Sciences

The University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences (SMS) is one of the nation’s largest marine research and education programs. SMS offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees; its faculty and students conduct basic and applied research on a wide variety of topics, and perform public service related to scientific policy for marine resources and coastal zone management. More than 30 faculty are affiliated with SMS, including full-time, part-time, and cooperating appointments. By its very nature, SMS is an interdisciplinary unit. Areas of expertise and research include physical, biological and chemical oceanography; aquaculture; marine biology; marine geology; marine resource development and policy; seafloor ecology; physiology and biochemistry; fish biology; fish pathology; fisheries science; seaweed biology; maritime studies; population genetics; molecular biology and toxicology; marine optics and acoustics and ocean engineering.

SMS faculty provide leadership in research programs that encompass all the world’s oceans, with emphasis on the Gulf of Maine. Faculty are headquartered at both the Orono campus of UM and its coastal marine laboratory, the Ira C. Darling Marine Center (see Research Resources), and the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Further information about SMS is on the web at: www.umaine.edu/marine. Further information about the Darling Marine Center is on the web at: https://dmc.umaine.edu/

The School of Marine Sciences offers the following graduate degrees:

M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Oceanography;
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Biology;
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources (administered jointly with The School of Food and Agriculture);
M.S. degree in Marine Policy; and
Dual M.S. degree in Marine Policy and either Oceanography or Marine Biology.
P.S.M. (Professional Science Masters) degree in Marine Science.

The School of Marine Sciences offers core and advanced courses in all degree areas. Most specialized courses of study in the subdisciplines of marine science are also provided by various associated departments. Financial support for graduate students is primarily in the form of research assistantships. Some teaching assistantships are available.

Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Marine Biology

The Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Marine Biology are designed to provide students with a broad knowledge base in marine biology. Areas of study include, but are not restricted to behavior, cell and molecular biology, comparative morphology, development and ecology, evolution, genetics, physiology, taxonomy/systematics. Marine Biology is a dynamic field, and our programs are flexibly designed to accommodate new discoveries and technologies.

M.S. and Ph.D. Programs in Marine Biology are research-oriented, leading to completion of a thesis. To succeed, students will be required to learn to

formulate valid scientific questions
design appropriate experiments to answer those questions
develop the necessary technical skills to conduct the experiments
examine and interpret the results of the experiments.
apply results as appropriate.

Although some of the groundwork for this will be provided through formal course work, considerably more training will occur in less formal situations in which students work closely with one or more faculty members on focused topics. Marine Biology faculty of SMS provide expertise in an extensive range of phyletic groups of marine organisms from bacteria and viruses, through planktonic organisms, to marine algae, marine invertebrate and vertebrate animals. Their specialties encompass levels of biological organization from population biology, ecology and systematics, through physiology and biochemistry, to molecular biology.

Program Requirements

To maintain maximum flexibility, the majority of courses comprising a student’s Program of Study will be determined by the student in consultation with his/her major advisor and advisory committee.

Basic knowledge of descriptive oceanography equivalent to SMS 302 or SMS 484. Coursework taken prior to admission must be approved by Graduate Program Coordinator.

SMS 500 - Marine Biology Credits: 4
SMS 691 - Marine Science Seminar Credits: 1
- One semester of graduate level statistics.
- Participation in SMS Graduate Student Symposium during each year of full-time study.

Examples of existing elective courses include

INT 510 - (BSC, SMS) Marine Invertebrate Zoology Credits: 5
SMS 501 - Biological Oceanography Credits: 3
SMS 525 - Marine Biogeochemistry Credits: 3
SMS 531 - Coral Reefs Credits: 3
SMS 562 - Fisheries Population Dynamics Credits: 3
SMS 598 - Special Topics in Marine Science Credits: 1-3

Graduate Faculty

James Acheson, Ph.D. (Rochester, 1970), Emeritus Professor. Area: Cultural Anthropology. (Marine Policy)

Emmanuel Boss, Ph.D. (Washington, 1996), Professor. Area: Particle Dynamics, Optical Oceanography. (Oceanography)

Damian Brady, Ph.D. (University of Delaware, 2008), Assistant Professor. Area: marine biogeochemistry, environmental oceanography (Marine Biology)

Susan Brawley, Ph.D. (California, 1978), Professor. Area: Algal Physiology, Development and Ecology. (Marine Biology, Oceanography)

Ian Bricknell, Ph.D. (Lancaster, 1990), Professor. Area: Marine Aquaculture, finfish culture, parasitology, fish immunology and vaccinology and fish health. (Aquaculture)

Kristina Cammen, Ph.D. (Duke University, 2014), Assistant Professor. Area: Marine mammal science, ecological and evolutional genomics, ocean health, conservation biology. (Marine Biology)

Fei Chai, Ph.D. (Duke University, 1995), Professor. Area: Ecosystem Modeling; Tropical Oceanography. (Oceanography)

Yong Chen, Ph.D. (Toronto, 1995), Professor. Area: Fisheries Population Dynamics and fisheries stock assessment and management. (Marine Biology, Marine Policy)

Laurie Connell, Ph.D. (North Carolina, 1988), Associate Research Professor. Area: Molecular Ecology. (Marine Biology)

Kevin Eckelbarger, Ph.D. (Northeastern, 1974), Emeritus Professor, Darling Marine Center. Area: Invertebrate Biology. (Marine Biology)

William Ellis, Ph.D. (Univ. of Rhode Island, 1992), Associate Director and Associate Professor. Area: Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry. (Oceanography)

Keith Evans, Ph.D. (Iowa State University, 2011), Assistant Professor. Area: Economics, fishery management , applied econometrics, nonmarket valuation (Marine Policy)

Walt Golet, Ph.D. (University of New Hampshire, 2010), Research Assistant Professor. Area: fisheries biology, physiology, trophic ecology (Marine Biology)

Heather Hamlin, Ph.D. (University of Florida, 2007) Associate Professor. Area: Endocrinology, finfish, aquaculture, contaminants (Marine Biology)

Nishad Jayasundara, Ph.D. (Stanford University, 2012) Assistant Professor. Area: physiology and biochemistry (Marine Biology)

Teresa Johnson, Ph.D. (Rutgers University, 2007), Associate Professor. Area: Fisheries Management. (Marine Policy)

Peter A. Jumars, Ph.D. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1974), Emeritus Professor. Area: Benthic Biological Oceanography, Organism-Environment Interactions at the Level of Individuals, Deposit Feeding. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Lee Karp-Boss, Ph.D. (Washington, 1998), Associate Professor. Area: Biological Oceanography. (Oceanography)

Heather Leslie, Ph.D. (Oregon State University, 2004), Coordinator for PSM program, Libra Associate Professor, and Director of Darling Marine Center. Area: coupled social-ecological systems, policy, ecology. (Marine Biology)

Sara Lindsay, Ph.D. (South Carolina, 1994), Associate Professor. Area: Sensory Biology and Ecology of Marine Invertebrates, Benthic Ecology. (Marine Biology, Oceanography)

Lawrence M. Mayer, Ph.D. (Dartmouth, 1976), Professor. Area: Marine Biogeochemistry. (Oceanography)

James D. McCleave, Ph.D. (Montana State, 1967), Emeritus Professor. Area: Migratory and Transport Mechanisms of Fishes, Fisheries Oceanography, Eel Biology. Associate Director, School of Marine Sciences. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Mary Jane Perry, Ph.D. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography/California, San Diego, 1974), Emerita Professor. Area: Phytoplankton Physiology and Ecology, Primary Productivity, Bio-optics. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Neal R. Pettigrew, Ph.D. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/M.I.T., 1981), Professor. Area: Near-shore, Estuarine and Continental Shelf Circulation. (Ocean-ography)

Paul Rawson, Ph.D. (South Carolina, 1996), Coordinator for Aquaculture. Area: Quantitative Genetics, Evolutionary Biology. (Marine Biology, Aquaculture)

Jeremy Rich, Ph.D. (Oregon State University, 2003), Assistant Professor. Area: Microbial ecologist, denitrification, anammox, DNRA. (Marine Biology)

Warren Riess, Ph.D. (New Hampshire, 1987), Associate Research Professor. Area: History; Underwater Archeology. (Marine Policy)

Jeffrey A. Runge, Ph.D. (Univ. of Washington, 1981), Research Professor. Area: Biological and Fisheries Oceanography.

Malcolm Shick, Ph.D. (Texas, 1974), Emeritus Professor. Area: Marine Invertebrate Physiology. (Marine Biology)

Robert S. Steneck, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins, 1982), Professor. Area: Benthic Marine Ecology, Lobsters, and Plant-Herbivore Interactions. (Oceanography, Marine Policy, and Marine Biology)

Joshua Stoll, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 2016), Assistant Professor. Area: ocean governance, coastal community resilience, fisheries policy, social-ecological dynamics. (Marine Policy)

Andrew Thomas, Ph.D. (British Columbia, 1988), Professor. Area: Plankton Biology, Biological/Physical Interactions, Satellite Oceanography. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

David W. Townsend, Ph.D. (Maine, 1981), Professor and Associate Director School of Marine Sciences. Area: Biological Oceanography of Shelf Seas. (Oceanography, Marine Biology)

Robert L. Vadas, Ph.D. (Washington, 1968), Professor. Area: Marine Ecology, Algal Ecology. (Marine Biology, Aquaculture)

Rebecca Van Beneden, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins, 1983), Professor and Director of School of Marine Sciences. Area: Marine Molecular Biology and Environmental Toxicology. (Marine Biology)

Rhian Waller, Ph.D. (Southampton Oceanography Center, UK, 2004), Assistant Professor. Marine invertebrate zoology, benthic oceanography, marine climate change (Oceanography)

Les Watling, Ph.D. (Delaware, 1974), Emeritus Professor. Area: Benthic Ecology. (Oceanography, Marine Biology, Aquaculture)

Mark Wells, Ph.D. (University of Maine), Professor. Area: Marine Organic Matter.

James Wilson, Ph.D. (Wisconsin, 1971), Emeritus Professor. Area: Economics and Fisheries Management. (Marine Policy, Aquaculture)

Huijie Xue, Ph.D. (Princeton University, 1991), Professor. Area: Numerical Modeling of Coastal and Oceanic Circulation. (Oceanography)

Gayle Zydlewski, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 1996), Associate Professor and UMaine Sea Grant Director. Area: Fish Ecology.

Cooperating Faculty

Daniel F. Belknap, Ph.D. (Delaware, 1979), Professor. Area: Marine Geology, Sedimentology. Chair, Department of Earth Sciences. (Oceanography)

Nick Brown, Ph.D. (Aquaculture Univ., Stirling, UK, 1998), Assistant Professor. Area: Aquaculture Technology

Adria Elskus, Ph.D. (Boston University, 1992), Associate Professor. Area: Molecular Environmental Toxicology.

Carol Kim, Ph.D. (Cornell, 1992), Associate Professor. Area: Zebrafish as a Model for Disease and Immune Function. (Marine Biology)

Michael Kinnison, Ph.D. (University of Washington, 1999), Associate Professor. Area: Ecology and Environmental (Marine Biology)

Paul Mayewski, Ph.D. (Ohio University, 1973), Professor. Area: Change in Climate and Chemistry of the Atmosphere. (Oceanography)

Bryan Pearce, Ph.D. (Univ. of Florida, 1972), Professor. Area: Physical Oceanography, Numerical Modeling (Oceanography)

Michael Peterson, Ph.D. (Northwestern Univ., 1994), Professor. Area: Ultrasound, Instrumentation and Biomimetic Design. (Oceanography)

John Singer, Ph.D. (Georgia, 1983), Professor. Area: Marine Microbiology. Chair, Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology. (Aquaculture, Marine Biology)

Seth Tyler, Ph.D. (North Carolina, 1975), Professor. Area: Invertebrate Biology. (Marine Biology)

Adjunct Faculty

Brian Beal, Ph.D. (University of Maine, 1994), Assistant Professor. Benthic Ecology, Marine Biology. University of Maine at Machias

Christopher Davis, Ph.D. (Univ. of Maine, 2000), Assistant Professor. Molluscan Biology and Aquaculture.

Lawrence Jacobson, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 1986), Associate Professor. Fisheries Population Dynamics, Assessment Modeling and Management. National Marine Fisheries Service, Woods, Hole, Massachusetts

Richard Langton, Ph.D. (University of Wales, 1975), Associate Professor. Fish Relationships and Fishing Effects on Habitat, Stock Enhancement. Buccoo Reef Trust