Resistance Double Lives Connections Reclaiming to Red Tide for Newborns Castine in Need

UMaineCREATIVITY AND ACHIEVEMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINETodayMARCH/APRIL 2006

Troubled waters What does the future hold for groundfishing in the Gulf of Maine? President's Message UMaine oday

Director of University Relations WHILE WE ARE PROUD of the University of Maine's status as a Joe Carr national-level research university, an institution where outstanding Editor scholars work to redefine the borders of new knowledge, it also is Margaret Nagle important to consider the foundation upon which the research Contributing Writers and Associates enterprise rests. Without our strong, comprehensive, liberal arts­ Dick Broom , Carrie Bulduc, Joe Carr , based undergraduate programs - the heart of any universit y's Clinton Colmenares, Kay Hyatt, academic life - UMaine would not be nearly as strong , nor would George Manlove , David Munson , Margaret Nagle, Christopher Smith it be able to effectively support the research and development Designers activity that also is an important component of a 21st-century Michael Mardosa , Carol Nichols, land-grant university. Valerie Williams Unlike any other university in Maine, but similar to the great state universities across Printed by University of Maine Print ing and Mailing Services the United States, UMaine offers a vast array of academic programs that help our students to learn to think clearly; to communicate effectively and to under stand the world around them. Readers are invited to send comments to: umain e toda y@um aine. edu As people who are truly educated, our students leave UMaine ready to take leadership roles and to contribute to society in meaningful ways. We are fortunate to have a faculty of learned University of Maine profile and accomplished scholars - historians, anthropologists, philo soph ers, economists and Locat ed in Orono, Maine, the Uni versit y of Maine is the state's land-grant and sea-grant insti­ experts in so many other disciplines - who provide those critical insights that help our tution . UMaine serves its hom e state through its students truly learn. explicit statewide teaching, research, and public service outreach mission . Offering 88 bachelor's, A great many of those UMaine professors are leaders in their fields. Their research 64 master's and 25 doctoral degree pro grams , and scholarly contributions are on the leading edge of current thinking in important areas, UMaine provides the most varied and advanced selection of programs available in Maine . The and our students benefit greatly from the close faculty interaction that is so important to us Carnegie Foundation for th e Advancement of at UMaine. Teaching classifies UMaine as a Doctoral Research Extensive University, the highest classi­ We have talked a lot recently about partnerships and collaborations - the "new fication. model" land-grant university. Several fine institutions have joined with us in enterprises UMaine Today is produ ced five Limes a year by related to important research. I believe that the decisionmakers at those institutions recog­ the Department of University Relati o ns , University of Maine, 576 1 How ar d A. Keya nize the true essence of UMaine, and that they appreciate the fact that our students and our Public Affairs Building, Orono , Maine 04469- faculty members are part of a real community of scholars, where the quest for knowledge is 5761, 207-581-3744. valued above all else. In complying with the letter and spirit of appli­ cable laws and in pur suing its own goals of diversity, the University of Maine System shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or citizenship status, age, dis ability or veteran Robert A. Kennedy status in employment, education, and all other President areas of the univer sity. The universit y provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individ­ uals with disabiliti es upon requ est. Questions and complaints about discrimin ation in any area ON THE COVER:Dustin Mclellan, 21, and his 19-year-old brother of the university should be dire cted to: Executive Brendon (not pictured) work aboard thei r father's 72-foot stee l­ Dir ector of Equa l Opportunity , 101 No rth sterned trawler Adv enturer. The broth ers are the seventh genera ­ Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, tion of Mclellans to make thei r living on cod, hake, pollack and 04469- 5754, 207-581-12 26. flou nde r taken from the Gulf of Maine. But what t he future hold s ©2006 by the University of Maine System. for them and other commercial fishermen is increasingly uncertain . Their father, Cameron, has seen th e Mclellan family's seven-trawler Printing and distribution of UMai ne Today fleet shrink to three. That 's why Cameron Mclellan has been are und erwritt en by the involved in collaborative research wit h scientists at the University Univ ersit y of Maine Found ation and the of Maine's Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine . The trawler Office of the Vice Presid en t for Research . captain is committed to the idea that bette r manag ement can Print ed on recycled paper. make a difference, and that collaboration between fishermen and scientists is the best way to get t here. See th e related story starting 1JE1rm THE UNIVERSITY OF on page 16. Photo by David Munson MAIN UM aine Today now offe rs an on lin e re aders ' surv e y. Let us know wh at A Member of the University of MaineSystem y ou th in k of the magazine www.umainetoday.umaine.edu/index.html Visitus online at www.umaine.edu/umainetoday for UMaine'sda ily news.an d the online version of UMaine Today. contents 12

2 5 Photo by Barth Schorre, court esy of the Cornell Labo1atory of Ornithology

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features March/April2006 Volume 6 Issue 2 2 5 8 12 16 21 students Resistance Double Lives Connections Reclaiming The Scientist New coursefor boatbuilding to Red Tide RebeccaHolberton is for Newborns Castine and the Morethan eightyears using"isotopic in Need Castine, Maine,on Fisherman 2 2 insights of researchby an signatures"reflected in Informaticsspecialists PenobscotBay has a UMaineg raduate SensingEducation internationalteam of the tissuesof migratory Craig Masonand high densityof former studentEmi ly Knight Momentum scientists,including songbirdsto studythe ShihfenTu are helping militaryin stallations,a andsixth -generation UMaineAssistant connectivityand Maineto establisha few of whichare in groundfisherman Fightingthe Fluwith Physics ResearchProfessor seasonalinteraction confidential database near-pristine CameronMclellan HUDGrant Builds Coalition LaurieConnel l, is now amongthe ir habitats of information on the archaeological collaboratedon research DogfishSharks Down East sheddinglight on a throughoutthe year. state's newbornswith condition.UMaine that offersthe first InsightLite: Maine Women potentiallydeadly Herresearch provide s special needsin an historicalarchaeo logist reliable estimatesof Oil Cropsfor Biodiesel compound,saxitoxin, insightinto the complex effortto ultimately AlaricFaulkner knows recoverytime s for ocean the primaryculpr it in interactionsbetween improve their quality themand the stories floor habitatsdisturbed What Is an Idea? casesof paralytic bird populationsand of life. theytell aboutthe by trawling. Secretsof the IrishCoast shellfish poisoning. placesthey ca ll home. state'sear ly history. I Resistance to OMBED FROM THE coastal mud s of New deadly compound known as saxitoxin. Saxitoxin is the primary Brunswick , Canada , hundreds of soft-shell culprit in cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), the always clams made their way from basket to boat to dangerous , sometimes deadly consequence of the coastal phenome­ pickup , headed south for their last hurrah . non known as red tide. The men and women who har vested th e Th e paper, published in the highly respected scientific journal mollusks carefully cleaned and sorted their Nature, spent more than five months at the top of the charts. haul , working through their catch with a clamdigger's dexterity and "I was shocked to hear that the paper was so popular. It's had Ca scientist's eye, prepping the hapless clams for their final demise. more than 60,000 downloads and it's still going," said Connell in That many clams could have been used to make a big batch of January. "It does have a very broad appeal." chowder. Instead, they were used to make history: The clams were the focus of research conducted by an interna­ SAXITOXIN'S ROLE IN PSP has been the subject of considerable tional team of scientists that included University of Maine marine interest in recent decades. However, most of the research focused scientist Laurie Connell. The scientists' paper last April, "Sodium primaril y on the effects the poison has on humans and oth er Channel Mutation Leading to Saxitoxin Resistance in Clam s mammals that contract PSP by eating clams and other filter-feeding Increases Risk of PSP," was the culmination of more than shellfish. Filter feeders accumulate saxitoxin in their tissues as they eight years of intensiv e research aimed at achieving a dine on the algae that carry the poison , passing along a concentrated better understanding of a notorious and potentially dose to their mammalian predators . The first researchers to take a

A newly discovered strain of renegade clams with the ability to ward off paralytic shellfish poisoning could shelf light on the nature of the nervous system

By David Munson Photos by Bill Drake

2 UMaineToday I red tide comprehensive look at the effects of saxitoxin on clams, Connell and her team, including retired UMaine researcher Betty Twarog, found that mollusks suffer many of the same PSP symptoms as humans . Well, at least some of them do. Connell, an assistant research professor in the School of Marine Sciences, discovered that not all clams are created equal when it comes to fighting off the effects of PSP.Now she's begun to unravel a microscopic mystery that speaks to the very nature of the nervous system itself. As it turns out, a renegade strain of red tide-resistant clams has been working its way into both Maine and Canadian clam popula­ tions in the last few millennia. Thanks to a mutation in their genetic code, these clams were able to survive and reproduce despite the presence of saxitoxin. This strain eventually became dominan t in clam populations that are frequently exposed to red tide. ln fact, Connell and her team of specialists found that the mutant clams were more than 1,000 times more resistant to the effects of red

"Knowledge of the genetic susceptibility of clams to red tide could help managers make better decisions on what clams to use in seeding programs, how long to close clam beds and other issues." Laurie Connell

March/April 2006 3 --=-· Safer Shellfish Through Technology

FACIAL NUMBNESS, tingling in the arms and legs, nausea, dizziness - and those are the milder symptoms. tide than their unmutated brethren, a Paralyticshellfish poisoning {PSP) result­ surprising discovery that has significant ing fromthe consumption of shellfish implications in both clam management and tainted with toxins found in the algae that medical research. cause red tide is a veryreal danger.PSP has become a growing concern in recent years with dramatic increases in the extent and THE SYMPTOMS OF saxitoxin poisoning frequencyof red tide blooms in Maine's - numbness, paralysis and even death - coastal waters. result from the compound's ability to inter­ While the state has an extensive moni­ fere with the nervous system at the toring program fordetecting the presence of subcellular level, blocking sodium channels, the various species of algae responsible for and interrupting the crackle and blink of red tide, currenttesting procedures are costly and time consuming. Utilizing break­ nerve impulses moving from cell to cell. through techniques in molecular biology Because of itspower over the nerve impulse, and sensor technology, University of Maine saxitoxin has been used extensively by In another research initiative, Laurie marine scientist Laurie Connell and bioengi­ medical researchers to study the function of Connell, left. and research technician neer Rosemary Smith of UMaine's Labora­ the nervous system and its associated Cindy 11.

4 UMaine Today -=. - -.. --. Double Lives By David Munson

Biological research offers insights into connectivity among songbird migration habitats

WITH THE ARRIVAL of the first spring robin, the courtship call of the redwing, the orderly departure W of the Canada goose, birds help us to define our place in time more deeply than any clock or calendar. The movements of migrating birds have become important milestones in our cultural calendar, marking the passing of the seasons and keeping us connected to the natural world.

American redstart Photo by Isidor Jekiin, courtesy of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology Kristen Covino, left, a master's student in biology, and Rebecca Holberton, associate professor of biological sciences, inspect the body condition of a dark-eyed junco. Photo by Bill Drake

OR DECADE the arrival and departure of a local bird In th e past, an individual bird had to be captured and recap­ population often paralleled the beginning and end of ur tured to provid any inf01111ationabout wher e it spent it Lime or F knowled ge of the species. Wbcre they went when they what happened to it while it was in a pan icular place. Using this departed and what they did there remained a mystery Filling that new approach , only a single capture is necessary, making data for information gap between the double lives they lead has become a migration research not only easier to collect, but more accurate. critical part of understanding the ecology of migratory birds . Working in collaboration with researcher Peter Marra of the Smith­ A groundbreaking discov ery mad e nearly a decade ago by sonian Migratory Bird Center, Holberton put the new technique to University of Maine professor Rebecca Holberton and her colleagues use for the first time in a study of the American redstart, a striking has become wha t is arguably the single most import ant tool in black and orange songbird that winters in Jamaica and returns to understanding the connections between what happens to birds on Ontario to breed. their wintering grounds and their success on their breeding The redstart's tropical feeding grounds offer the bird two very grounds. Using a technique akin to radiocarbon different habitats in which to dine, each with its dating, the researchers found a way to not only Rebecca Holberton collaborates own menu of insects, spiders and other small use stable carbon isotopes to determine where invertebrates . Jamaica 's threaten ed mangrove with Peter Marra, a researcherat individual birds are feeding, but to also reveal wamps provide a wide election and sizeable the Smithsonian Migratory Bird how these patterns can affect population decline. portion , while food in the i land' dry cru b Center, to study the connect­ The approach is offering researchers valuable forestsi s generallyscarce. ivity and seasonal interaction insights into the complex interactions betweenn "The wet mangrove habitats have different among the different habitats bird populations and the places they call home. carbon signatur than the dry rub areas. Different types and abundance of carbon in which migratory birds live Different ratios of carbon 13 and niu ·ogen are isotopes are found from region to region and throughout the year, including incorporated into the plants; the insects eat the habitat to habitat. These "isotopi c signatures" the Maine woods. plants and the birds eat the insects. When you are reflected in the tissues of the birds that feed lo ok at this isotop e mark er in bird blood , it there. Blood from captured birds is analyzed and compared to differs dramatically according to the habitats where the birds have carbon isotope measurements from potential habitats to determine been feeding," Holberton says. "We can use that as a way of tracking feeding sites. Holberton and her colleagues found the same blood the bird , creating a meaningful link between wintering-ground and sample also can provide hints about how well the bird is doing. breeding-ground events."

6 UMaine Today NCE THEY ESTABLISHEDa link beLween the redstart's to fatten up on the bounty of the Jamaican mangroves arrived in two lives, Holberton and Marra took the research a step Ontario earlier, and were generally in better condition to breed. 0 further, using the new data to examine the effects of habi­ Setting the stage for future research, Holberton and her colleagues tat loss on the fitness of individual birds. have developed new laboratory techniques that they hope will show "There is an active social hierarchy that determines which birds how wintering-ground events affect migration and breeding success. will feed in the rich mangrove habitats and which will feed in the "In general in birds, individu als that are in better condi tion dry scrub," says Holberton. "The loss of the mangroves is a big when they leave their winter feeding areas arrive in their breeding issue, and we needed a reliable indicator of how well the birds were grounds sooner and have better nesting success," says Holberton . doing as a consequence of their competition for better habitats , like "We plan to use hormon e levels to determin e whe ther their the mangroves." increased success is due to arrival time alone or if their bodies are Intent on measming each bird's true fitness, Holberton devel­ preparing for breeding even sooner. It may be that birds stuck in oped another novel approach by measmin g the relative levels of the poorer habitats during the winter can't get ready to breed as quickly hormon e corticosterone in the birds' blood. as those in the mangroves. If so, we can say conclusively that winter "You can catch and weigh 'bird s to see how they are doing, but habitat affects breeding, which is critical when we try to work with two birds of equal weight may have had to do a vastly different bird populations." amount of work to get to the same place. Fitness is just not some­ Holberton's new research could provide a valuable link between thing you can tell by holding the bird in your hand," she says. "We migration timing, physical condition and preparation for breeding, needed an indicator of how hard the birds were working to prepare helping other researchers to establish more effective man agement themselves for migration, and corticosterone is that indicator." plans for threatened and endangered songbirds. In birds, corticosterone's primary function is to initiate the urge The use of stable isotopes to follow the movements of birds and to feed. When food is scarce or the bird is nutritionall y bankrupt, animals has become common practice. Use of hormone analysis in the level of corticosterone will remain high. If it stays high due to bird research also has increased. However, for Holberton, combining increased competition for marginal habitats, it can put a bird into the new research techniques is simply a means to an end. survival mode , ultimately leadin g to the breakdown of skeletal "On a single night during migration, more than 5 billion birds muscle and a weaker immune system. will move through the night sky in North America. As they pass Th e time and effort it takes for an individual redstart to prepare overhead, calling to one anoth er, I often wonder what they'll find for its long migration north can have serious implications for its when they reach their destinations. I hope that, in some small way, breeding success. Holberton found that the lucky few that were able our work can make a difference. We owe them that." I

Alternative energy,warbler style

OWTHAT FUEL PRICES are fixed firmly abovet he $2 mark, the soundof sobbing Ncan often be heardat the gas pump.However, the blackpollwarble r is singing a differenttune, boasting an incredible720,000 miles per gallonduring its amazing2,300- milemigratory flight. Weighingin at lessthan an ounce,the tiny travelermakes its way from New England to the Caribbeanand on to the Amazonin somethingless than 90 hours, crossinghuge expansesof openocean without refuelingor eventak ing a quicksiesta . "Therea re otherbirds that fly longer distances, but they canstop. The b lackpollcan't stop.It fliesfor threet o five daysst raight," says Universityo f Maine ornithologist Rebecca Holberton,who hasstudied the ambitiousbird fo r severalyears . "Theydon't eat any more BlackpollWarbler

Photo by Jim Wedge, courtesy of the Cornell Laboratory of Orn itholog y than othersongbirds, but theydefinitely make the mostof what they have."

March /Aptil 2006 7 Connections f o

SCOTT HAYDEN Jessica first used hearing aids and Statewide do ab remembers the day the learned American Sign Language. Ten Statewide database Earth stood still. It months later, she und erwe nt elective with services happened when he and his surge1y to receive a cochlear implant. with services for wife, Lori, were told the reason "For Jessica, the hearing aids were of that their healthy, vivacious 15-month -old little or no benefit," Hayden says. "But we daughter had not yet learned to speak. thought that if she had access to sound, Jessica was diagnosed with profound maybe she could learn to listen, and maybe bilateral hearing loss. She is deaf. then she could learn to speak. We were not "By far, it was the most devastating news trying to fix a broken child, but to provide that I've ever received," says Hayden. "It hit one more opportunity for her." me with a force that I couldn't imagine ; it Last fall, Jessica started kindergarten. In brought me to my knees. I felt that my the classroom, the teache r wears a small family's dream hads been hattered. I cried, microphone as part of an FM auditory and cried and cried." trainer system that provides direct, ampli­ The diagnosis that resulted from a hear­ fied speech to Jessica. The now 6-year-old ing test came as a complete surprise to the uses no other educational aids or assistance. Haydens. All along, Jessica had responded She talks. Sings. Reads aloud. to gestures and vibrations, turning her head, "Early inter vention with parental smiling , laughing. But the words nev er involvement is a powerful healer. It restores came. some order and sense in your life," says "Even when we went for a hearing test, Hayden, who has given a presentation about we still didn 't think there would be an his family 's experiences to heal th care issue," Hayden says. "It's ama zing how providers at Children's Hospital Boston, and babies adapt." who last year testified in Augusta before the Jessica was born in Bangor, Maine, in legislature's Appropriations and Education 1999 , a year before the state legislature committ ees. estab lish ed the Maine Newborn Hearing "One of the first things I now tell parents: Program and five years before hospital s Today is a new day. With early intervention, began reporting screening results. Her expe­ their dreams are just beginning." rience was unlike that of newborns today who are screened for hearin g loss before JESSICA IS ONEof an estimated leaving Maine hospitals. As a result, Jessica five youngs ters born every year in Maine and her parents lost 15 months to silence. with profound deafness. Annually, as many However, once inform ed, the Haydens as 50 out of Maine's 13,500 babies are born made up for that lost time with the help of with hearing loss, most mild to moderate, early intervention services paid for under according to Ellie Mulcahy, program director th e federal Individuals with Disabilities of the Genetics Program in the Maine Center Education Act. Initially, the family work ed for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine with an audi olo gist, ear ly child family CDC, previously the Bureau of Health). consultant , speech-language pathologist and To help them keep track of all the data, developm ental therapist. Later, there was the Maine CDC partn ered with the Univer­ auditory-verbal, recreational and music ther­ sity of Maine to carry out the mandate of apy, as well as family training. the legislature by instituting ChildLINK, a

8 UMaine Today newborns in need . inksat­ IS babies sophisticated data system that integrates the an audio logist and many did n ot receive links at-risk babies information from the State of Maine Elec­ services until they were 3 years old. By that arl ervention tronic Birth Certificate with information - time, a child with hearing disabilities has early intervention from the Newborn Hearing Screen, the lost a lot of time in cognitive and language Newborn Metabolic Screen and the Birth developmen t." Defects Registry The goal of the collabora­ Today; all 32 birthing hospitals in Maine tion is to help children and their families are enro lled in ChildLINK, providing the receive information and appropriate services. Maine CDC with data on infant hearing Prior to ChildLINK, a program that is screening tests and birth defects. currently hous ed in "Imagine if you've UMaine's Center for ju st had a child and Comm uni ty Inclu­ CraigMason, a CDC bee n told he or sh e sion and Disabilit y informaticsconsultant, has hearing loss. As a Studies ( CCIDS), and andother CDCofficials paren t you wonder , affi lia ted wit h th e are workingwith New 'what do l do now?"' College of Education Englandstates to create says Tu, a UMaine and Human Develop­ a modelfor trackingthe assistant professor of ment, th ere was no progressof at-risk education and applied centralized, statewide babiesborn in the region. quantitative methods, collection of informa­ and a r esea rch and tion about the occur- evaluation coordina ­ rence of h earing loss or birt h defects to tor for CCIDS. "W ith the system of facilitate systematic follow-up with families newborn screening and early identification, by the Children with Special Health Needs opportunities will be provided for parents to Program in the Maine CDC. For the parents seek expertise from multiple agencies for of newborns with h ear ing loss or birth intervention strategies (that can affect their defects, a key to helping their children most child's quality of life)." is improved access to specialty services, as well as resources that can provide emotional UNIVERSALNEWBORN h ear- and economic support. ing screening, which is offered in hospitals "The desir e was to set up a system as part of routine newborn care, is key to across the state to screen all newborns , so preventing speech and language delays, and that those at risk for hearing loss could be developmenta l disabilities that can occur if identified and refene d to diagnostic evalua­ the hea1ing loss goes undetected, says Patli­ tion and early intervention services," says cia Day, nurs e coo rdin ator of the Maine UMain e res earcher Cra ig Mason, wh o Birth Defects Program in the Maine CDC. created ChildLINK with colleague and wife "Sometimes peop le think we'r e a Shihfen Tu, and with Quansheng Song, the surveillance program , that we're just about lead programmer and database administra­ the num bers," says Day "But our first p1ior­ tor for the project. ity is getting informa tion to parents and "A numb er of studies have found that assisting them into services. We also want even if a hearing screen was done in hospi­ to provid e h ea lth care pro vid ers with B Margaret Nagle tals and infan ts were identified as at risk, up national information and incorporate what Illustrations by Carol Nichols to two-thirds of them did not go on to see we're seeing here."

March /April 2006 9 HearingHearing losslos is is one one of of the the most ost common common problemsproble s inin Iinfancy fa cy —- andand the most ttreatable. treatable .

Newborn hearing screen­ and was key to Florida receiving several child ing is recommended by the health grants, including selection as a CDC American Academy of Pedi­ Autism Center. Mason and Tu would like to atrics. The United States replicate the work in Maine. Centers for Disease Control and "We h op e that some of the work Prevention's ( CDC) Early Hearing we're doin g can redu ce the amount of Detection and Intervention (EHDI) special services needed by these children in Program, as well as several other organiza­ school," says Tu. "We're hoping that five tions, have endorsed national goals to promote years from now, Maine has made signifi­ communication from birth for all children . The first cant progress in linkin g n ewborn three goals constitute the "1-3-6 plan, " calling for all screening and education ." newborns to be screened for hearing loss before age 1 The work being don e at the month, and preferably before hospital discharge; all University of Maine has been gaining infants screening positive to have diagnostic audiological increased national attention . Quansheng evaluation before age 3 months; and all infants identified Song took the lead in developing a version of with hearing loss to receive appropriate early intervention ChildLINK for Guam, and Mason now also is a CDC before age 6 months. informatics consultant. In that role, he and other CDC Hearing loss is one of the most common problems in infancy - officials are working with New England states to create a collabora­ and one of the most treatable. However, it often can be difficult for tive model for tracking the progress of babies born anywhere in the parents to grasp the significance of early diag- region, including the major metrop olitan nosis and prevention. Indeed ,>some parents medical centers where high-risk pregnan cies refute positive screening results with their own With the data, are referred. tests to see if their infants startl e to loud researchers will look at "In the past, health officials may have noises, like the banging of a pot or ringing of a patterns in an effort to heard about an unnam ed baby being born telephone. Resorting to such traditional yet more fully understand, with a rare birth defect," says Mason. "Such primitive hearing tests for infants may only and ultimately prevent anecdotal stories suggest that Maine could signify that the baby is not completely deaf; the or treat, conditions in have higher rates of some birth defects (than child may still have substantial hearing loss. newborns that cause other parts of the country ), but whether we 'That's why public awareness is so impor­ developmental do has remained a question without the data. tant," says Mason, an associate professor of disabilities. With the numbers, we can begin to look at education and applied quantitative methods. the basis for such defects , such as hea vy "Parents need to know that even mild hearing metals, mercury and lead." loss can lead to delays in language developm ent ." Of the estimated 200 babies born with a birth defect each year in A study by the CDC estimat ed that those lifetim e costs are Maine, many will not live to see their first birthda ys. Now a formal­ expected to be $2.1 billion for persons born in 2000 with hearing ized reporting structure allows state health officials to begin to assess loss; lifetime costs for an individual with early childhood-onset hear­ the full impact of birth defects on Maine children and their families, ing loss are conservatively estimated to total more than $275,000. including monitoring trends of certain conditions. A decade from now, the hope is that the data will help to delin­ BETTERUNDERSTANDING of the effect of newborn eate any environment al or other causes for the incidence of birth hearing screening and early intervention is the next step in Maine's defects in Maine, says Day. In addition, the data sets could help deter­ program. Mason and Tu are part of a multiuniversity research group mine future prevention or healthcare strategies. Researchers will be based at the University of Miami that is linkin g early childhood able to look at patterns in an effort to more fully und erstand , and health data to education al records in Florida . This has provided ultimately prevent or better treat, condition s in newborns that can valuable information in planning educational services in that state, cause developmental disabilities. I

10 UMain e Today UNIVERSITY OF MAINE methods for protecting researchers Craig Mason privacy in data collection. and Shihfen Tu are The key is in protecting methodologists who privacy while making the specialize in informatics infonnation usable. to benefit early childhood "That's part of the role development. They are universities play in facili­ helping Maine to develop tating this work," says comprehensive, confiden­ Mason. "It's a collabora ­ tial databases of informa­ tion among universities, tion on the state's new­ and state and private borns, including new agencies that has proved ways of looking al and valuable in a number of

linking statistical data, in Shihfen Tu and Craig Mason Photo by Bill Drake states." an effort lo ultimately Using the databases, improve the quality of life The epidemiologyof state health officials can for those with special track and plan services, needs. child development and enhance opportunities Their research in for applied stale public Maine began in 2001 with health surveying and ChildLINK, a collaboration between UMaine and the research. ChildlINK can generate on-demand individualized Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine demographics reports statewide or by hospital for officials CDC) to compile a database to ultimately integrate infor­ with the highest access privileges. Even family-level studies mation from the State of Maine Electronic Birth Certificate, are possible, which are particularly important in research on the Newborn Hearing Screen, the Newborn Metabolic genetic patterns or environmental 1isks. With institutional Screen, and the Birth Defects Registry. review board and Maine CDC approval, researchers will be Maine law established the Maine Birth Defects Program able to access anonymous , aggregate inform<;1tion for and the Maine Newborn Hearing Program, both in what conducting policy-relevant public health studies. was then the Maine Bureau of Health, in 1999 and 2000, Mason and Tu are members of a national consortium of respectively. After a 2002 pilot of ChildLINK, focusing on researchers specializing in child developmental epidemiol­ newborn heating screening, the birth defects registry went ogy using public health databases. The hybridization - online the following year. The state implemented universal bridging public health epidemiology and traditional child newborn hearing screening in 2004 , automating the development - has led to the newborn hearing screening tracking and mandating report­ creation of the Journal of Devel­ ing requirements for hospitals and healthcare providers. opmental Epidemiology.Mason Licensed clinical social worker and programmer Cecilia is an associate editor; Tu Cobo-lewis, and database administrator Quansheng Song serves on the edit01ial board of provide the primary training and technical support to the journal, to be published online by healthcare professionals reporting statewide. BioMed Central. "We'd like to see Maine have a seamless, streamlined "It is work on population -level data system for children with special needs so families can be using methodology to identify early child­ immediately connected to the help they need," says Mason. hood risk factors to predict social, develop­ Mason and Tu have particular interest in developing mental and educational outcomes," says Tu.

March/April 2006 11 Reclaiming

Research by a UMaine archaeologistCastine uncovers clues to the colonial and early American military history of the strategic peninsula that four nations battled to control

By Dick Broom Photos by Bill Drake

Undergraduate student David Reid sifts back dirt at the archaeological site in Castine, Maine. Among the artifacts; a fragment of early British bottle glass associated with the 1814 fort.

12 UMaine Today It’s well known that no one trav- sity of Maine, who began excavating at: written accounts refer to a number of sled by horse in 17th-century Fort Pentagoet in 1981. Indian settlements “at Pentagoet.” But Acadia, the vast territory that “We often have images of the French inarchaeological research has shown that comprises modern-day Nova Acadia as going around dressed in buck- those settlements were actually scattered Scotia, New Brunswick, the Gaspe skins and rags,” he says. “But, in fact, theover the entire Penobscot river drainage Peninsula of Quebec and much of Maine.traders brought with them the finest fash-area, so trading with the native-population So why have fragments of spurs been ions and fanciest sewing notions from was much more widespread. Europe.” found at the site of Fort Pentagoet in “More nonsense has inadvertently been Castine, Maine, on the eastern edge of In the 17th century, the French deco- written about Maine history because the Penobscot Bay? rated their clothes with ribbons, and wore geographical extent signified by place Early Acadians are often depicted as spurs and gold galloons. Rapiers, which by names was often far greater in the past rugged, rough-hewn pioneers, yet archaeol-then has become obsolete as weapons, than it is today,” Faulkner says. were important items of dress. All were ogists working at Fort Pentagoet discov- His work at Pentagoet revealed that symbols of wealth and status, and they ered bits of silk and satin ribbon, bands of commerce between coastal Acadia and were adopted by every single trader in gold braid and elaborate buckles from Quebec also was more extensive and French Acadia. sword slings. complex than had been thought, involving “What we have found gives us an Fort Pentagoet was occupied from 1634 more than fish, fur and timber. Coal was a entirely different picture of gentility as it until 1674, when a Dutch privateer sacked valuable commodity in those days; existed on the frontiers of Acadia, very it. Like most frontier “forts” of that time, Faulkner’s team found coal from a mine in different from the kind of pictures you Pentagoet was more of a trading outpost Nova Scotia in the middle of what had would expect Disney to create, says Alaric than a military instillation. It likely was been the armorer’s forge in Castine. Faulkner, a historical archaeologist in the built primarily for trade with the native From such small discoveries can come Department of Anthropology at the Univer- people in the area, Faulkner says. Early answers to large questions, Faulkner says.

Last summer, 12 undergraduate students joined UMaine historical archaeologist Alaric Faulkner in Castine for excavations. Among them were Jane Clifton and Carly Bunyan, below, left to right. Faulkner’s research focuses on the physical evidence of cultures and events in the New World since the arrival of the first Europeans. Knowing about the precise location, size and, shape of military works, and the geographic features around them, can illuminate, clarify and, sometimes, bring into question the written accounts of events that occurred there.

March/April 2006 13 "What was so important about Castine and context to the rich history of the area by worst American naval disaster prior to Pearl in the 17th century that the English and mapping and excavating a number of signif- Harbor . The entire Massachusetts fleet of French fought back and forth for decades icant sites. One of these was the home of about 42 ships was trapped in the harbor by for this little piece of real estate? Was it Jean-Vincent de Saint-Castin, an early British warships while trying to drive the control of access to natural resources, such Acadian leader who married a native British out of Fort George. All but one of the as fur, fish, timber and coal? From what we woman. Saint-Castin, for whom the town is American ships were scuttled . The have found, such as evidence that Castine named, was considered a hero by Acadians commanders on both sides described the had access to Nova Scotia's coal, the answer and Native Americans for defending their events in their diaries. is partially yes. But we have also learned that rights against the British. "But those are only word pictures," access to Quebec via the Penobscot River, Faulkner says. "Now that we have found the improbable as it seems today, was thought actual places and put them on the land­ to be just as important at the time." scape, all previous accounts of the Penob­ Located on a neck of land at the mouth scot Expedition are reinformed by the of the Penobscot, Castine also was of great geography of the events, and they give us military importance. quite a different picture of what went on." The French at Pentagoet, Faulkner's Paul Revere commanded the artillery archaeological portrait of the Acadian fron­ during the Penobscot Expedition. After the tier, published in 1987, has been cited as smoke had cleared - and the last ship had one of the most important books on Maine sunk - he was court-martialed at his own history. His ability to read and speak French request to clear himself of culpability in the gives him a great advantage, if not a monop­ debacle. When he returned home, oly, in researching Acadian sites because of reminders of where he had been were all "A lot of my work involves resolving the historical documentation associated what we can see of archaeological around him. The cobblestones that paved with them. That advantage brings with it a features on old maps and transpos­ Boston's streets were evidence of trade special responsibility to give the Acadians ing them onto new, modern between that city and the coast of Maine. An cartography. We use this not only their due, he believes. excavation of Revere's own house lot for research purposes, but also to "History is always written by the so­ give students an opportunity to revealed cobbles similar to those Faulkner called winners. But there need to be people learn the process of making good, discovered at the Fort Pentagoet site. who can provide some measure of constraint accurate contour maps." by putting the record straight. We very Alaric Faulkner APARTFROM HIS archaeological fieldwork seldom hear about the Acadians, much less and scholarship, Faulkner has advanced I the native people who lived here with them. Faulkner also has studied Castine both the science of archaeology and its prac- "This is something I tried to remedy in archaeological sites from later times, prima­ tical application through the Maine Historic my contribution to the history book Maine: rily military fortifications built during the Archaeological Sites Inventory. The comput­ The Pine TreeState that is currently used in Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. erized database of about 3,600 sites is the schools," says Faulkner, who, with his 'There is in Castine a greater density of administered jointly by UMaine's Depart­ wife, Gretchen, director of the Hudson military installations than I know of just ment of Anthropology and the Maine Museum at the University of Maine, wrote about anywhere else," Faulkner says. "A few Historic Preservation Commission. the textbook's chapter on the Acadians. of them are in more or less pristine condi­ Twenty-seven years ago, Faulkner and tion from an archaeological standpoint." the late Robert Bradley of the Historic ALARIC FAULKNER STUDIES physical Knowing the precise location, size and Preservation Commission created the inven­ evidence of cultures and events in the New shape of military works, and the geographic tory on index cards. Faulkner converted it World since the arrival of the first Euro­ features around them, can illuminate and into an online resource in 1994. It remains peans. His work has by no means focused clarify, and, sometimes, bring into question one of the only databases in the nation that entirely on Castine, although he has the written accounts of events that occurred allows archaeologists to register sites online returned there several times. there. Such is the case with the Penobscot and to update the record from the field as He and his students have added detail Expedition of July 1779, which was the they make new discoveries.

14 UMaineToday In addition to new information about an archaeological site, the inventory includes all previous research reports on the site and all relevant references, biblio grap hies and maps. About 40 archaeologists, many of them Faulkner's former students, routinely register sites and contribute to the database. They, along with histo rians, use it to plan and inform additional research. Access to the online inven tory is restricted to prevent public disclosure of the location of sites. Th e database is freq uentl y used for mapping and modeling. For example, it can instantly show differences in the settlement patterns of the French and British in the 17th century. "We find that most of the British sites were below the 4-meter contour line above high tide, which tells us their allegiance, at least in the early years, was entirely to their ships," Faulkner says. "From the distribu ­ tion of French sites, we see that they were much more successful in adopting the canoe and bateau , and going farther up the interior drainages." The historic sites in ventory h as very practical as well as scholarly applications. The Maine Historic Preservation Commis­ sion uses it to help prevent highways, sewer plants and subdivisions from being built on top of archaeological sites - or at least to aid in salvaging as mu ch information as possible when construction projects cannot be redesigned. "We review about 3,500 federally funded and federally licensed proj ects a year, in addition to state projects and local projects, wh en asked by the municipalities, " says Earle Shettleworth Jr., director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. "One of the things we look at for each Alaric Faulkner’s work in Castine was at the site of a fortification built by the British during the War of 1812, near the canal that crosses the neck of the peninsula. Called the project is the potentia l imp act on cultural Musquetry Redoubt, it is a boomerang-shaped earthworks about 60 feet long from which resources, includin g histori c archaeological guards could fired on an enemy attempting to cross a bridge over the canal. The redoubt sites. So, it is imperativ e that we have the appears on a map from 1814, but it had never been examined or even included on the state’s inventory of archaeological sites. Faulkner and a group of his students found and most up -to-date inform ation about those mapped the site, and completed test excavations. In this photo, Faulkner points out sites at our fingertips." I details of the redoubt excavation.

March /April 2006 15 ‘Scientists need to listen to local expertise, fishermen who spend their lives at sea and know areas and environments in a way that many marine scientists do not have the opportunity to know.” Emily Knight Photo courtesy of Emily Knight

16 UMaineToday THE scientist AND THE fisherman Traditional opponents combine expertise to fathom the effects of trawling in the Gulf of Maine

By David Munson

University of Maine HE FORM OF COMMUNICATION IS QUIET BUT EFFECTIVE, familiar to anyone who has spoken to a graduate student New England crowd about taxes, politics or change. As subtle as a raised eyebrow or an unconscious Emily Knight was crossing of the arms, it speaks volumes through its uncomfortable silence. uniquely qualified for the collabora­ It's the unspoken language of skepticism, and Maine fishermen speak it fluently. tive research Maine's fishing communily has a reputation for doubting science and questioning change, traits studying the effects that have only been reinforced by the recent flood of rules and regulations aimed at protecting the Gulf of of trawling on benthic habitats. Maine's dwindling groundfish stocks. And while even the most stubborn of stemsmen will admit that Her passion for something has to change in order to tum things around, when you're dragging 20 tons of groundfish gear marine research beneath 15-foot swells, skepticism and experience beat theories and projections hands down. was rivaled only by Fishermen assume their skepLicalpoint of view because their livelihood and their lives depend on her desire to open new doors for it, and sixth-generation draggerman Cameron Mclellan is no exception. communication. Nearly four years ago, after reading a research paper by University of Maine Marine Science Knight saw the Professor Les Watling, McLellan's natural skepticism kicked into overdrive. Mclellan project as both an took issue with a statement in which Watling compared dragging the ocean floor for opportunity to collect important groundfish to clear-cutting a forest. The lifelong fisherman simply didn't agree wilh Watling's new data and a claim. He needed to find out for himself. chance to bridge Mclellan , who sails out of Ponland, worked with Laura Taylor Singer of the nonprofit Gulf of the gap between Maine Research Institute, located in the heart of that city's working waterfront, to develop a research local knowledge and laboratory proposal comparing the relative health of the ocean floor in protected areas to frequently fished regions in expertise . the gulf. The result was a $195,000 grant from Northeast Consortium that brought together Mclellan, Watling and UMaine graduate student Emily Knight for a three-year, groundbreaking study in seafloor ecology and scientist-fishe1man relations. Data gathered and analyzed from 2002-05 as part of Knight's master's thesis research resulted in a paper coauthored by the trio that was presented at national and international conferences. The research informs an ongoing debate about the impact of commercial trawlers on the biodiversity of the seafloor. With any luck, the findings will help steer fisheries management toward a more sustainable future.

BEGINNINGIN SPRING2002, Knight conducted research aboard Mclellan's 72-foot steel-sterned u·awler Adventurer.Using a robotic diver, she collected samples of the ocean floor and underwat er video in the Western Gulf of Maine Closure, a federally mandated marine protected area closed Lodragging, and in

March/ April 200 6 1 7 Ocean trawling involves the use of a cone-shaped net held open by otter boards. Illustration by Tamara Jones

traditional groundfish dragging areas in a sediment were taken from locations closed ing that sessile animals, such as sponges and portion of the Gulf of Maine known as the to bottom trawling for two-, four- and six­ corals, were some of the hardest hit by trawl­ Kettl e. McLellan's guidance in finding year periods , as well as from the Kettle. The ing efforts. Groundfish spawn in habitat with appropriate sampling sites, based on his organisms found in each sample were iden­ structure. Juveniles hide in the sponges and family's decades of fishing history was criti­ tified and compared, establishing a list of corals. cal to achieving a meaningful outcome for major players for each bottom type. When The success of the first season of the research. the menu of species found in closed areas research led to additional funding from the "Cameron's direct involvem ent was of was compared to those groups found in the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2004, tremendous value to the projecL,"says Singer. places that were frequently fished, a pattern allowing Knight to collect additional data "He knows the places where people fish, how quickly emerged. that strengthened the significance of her often they fish there, what kind of gear they "We're looking at all the components of initial findings . While th e results of the use. You just can't get that kind of expertise th e benthic community, including both study may not have been exactly what anywhere but in the fishing industry." animals that live in the sediment and living McLellan and his fellow fishermen wanted Knight also was uniqu ely qualified for the project. The oceanography graduate student's passion for marine research was “I just wanted to make sure rivaled only by her desire to open new doors that regulations were for communication. Knight saw the project being based on facts as an opportunity to collect important new rather than opinion. data and a chance to bridge the gap between Ignorance of what’s happening out there is just local knowledge and laboratory expertise. going to work against us "Scientists need to listen to local expert­ in the long term.” ise, fishermen who spend their lives at sea and know areas and environments in a way Cameron McLellan that many marin e scientists do not have the opportunity to know," says Knight. "If more on top. The effects of trawling are different to hear, th ey were critic al to gro undfish fishermen were part of the process, there for each. Animals in the sediment reproduce management efforts in two important ways: would be less of an argument (about the faster and have sho rter life spans. Those They offered the first reliable estimat es of findings); they could trust more." animals are able to recover quicker than recovery times for sea floor habitats With the h elp of Watling's extensive those living on the surface of the sediments. disturbed by trawling, and th ey were expert ise in marine invertebrate research , "In both regions of the closure, one achieved through a collaborative effort that Knight id entified scores of organi sms closed for four years and the other for six, promises to satisfy the skeptics - boLh in known to inhabit the heterogeneous goo we found a hu ge am ount of st ru ctur e­ the lab and on the docks. that makes up the seafloor. A remote-oper­ makers, like worms in the sediment. It's the Based on gradual increases in complex­ ated vehicl e was used to estab lish video surface animals that find it harder to recover ity and diversity of seafloor communities transects of the study areas, and ·samp les of between disturbances," Knight says, explain- that h ave been protected from bottom trawl-

18 UMaine Today cameronMclell41n mak netrepairs ,with help from his sons,Dustin and Brendon. who make up his crew.

ing for two, four and six years, Watling esti­ mates that it would take roughly a decade for Trawler captain Cameron McLellan aboard the Adventurer Photos by David Munson the surface-dwelling organisms to reestablish themselves, but cautioned that a full recovery of the habitat would take much longer. "I am pretty firmly convinced that if the A fisherman committe d to better /management groundfishing industry doesn't soon begin hether they drag for cod, trawl for rising costs, shrinkingprofit s and the ever­ to undertake measures to conserve complex shrimpor haul trapsfor lobster. increasingweight of government regulations. bottom habitat, there will be little chance W the men and women who make Unwillingto stand by and watch the fishery that fishery will ever recover to levels seen their livingoff the coast of Maineare an collapse,Mclellan took a head-on approach, 50 or 100 years ago. Small bottom fish need uncompromisinglot: deliberate,honest and proposinga series of researchefforts to complex habitat and it is clear that rock stubborn.They won 't be driven,they're not better understand Maine's groundfishpopula­ hopper gear reduces habitat complexity," easily led and, as with scientists,the truth is tions and to develop a more sustainable something they like to discoverthemselves, management plan. Fromexamining the poten­ says Watling, an internationally recognized For45-year-old trawler captain Cameron tial benefits of artificialreefs to samplingthe expert on ocean trawling who has written Mclellan,the quest for truth became a 10- sediments on the ocean floor,Mclellan has extensively on the subject year odysseythat continuesto blur the line been involvedin scientificinitiatives a nd has between fishingand science. coauthored several scientificpapers. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT recently pro­ Mclellanhas been fishingfor groundfish Whilehis research effortshave given tected habitats are recovering, While full time for the last 30 years, having Mclellansome hard-earned respect in the lab captained his first trawler at 19. Hissons, and on the docks,it is hauling nets for anything resembling a "natural" condition Dustin,21 , and Brendon,19, make up his crew groundfishthat pays the bills,and the margin would certainly be far in the future, Knight as the seventh generation of Mclellanswho between successand failure seems to shrink found that significant gains had been made have made their livingon cod, hake, pollack with every passing year.The seven-trawler in the short term, and flounder. Familieslike the Mclellanshave Mclellanfamily fleet has shrunkto a strug­ "Scientists were predicting it would take helped to define commercialfishing in Maine, gling three, as Mclellanand his sons, his decades for recovery, but didn't have an buildingthe industryand the traditions that father and his siblingscontinue to eke out a have become such an important part of the livingwith only a fraction of the allowed days opportunity to look at it," says Knight. state's culturalidentity. at sea they once had. "We're already seeing signs of recovery after Hisexperience as a commercialfisherman This season, Mclellanhas a limitof just a significant amount of time. We're not has carried him from the icygray waters of over 81 days in which he can fish. Next seeing a huge trajectory change, but we can the BeringSea to the windswept shores of season, he expects to have 60. As he watches say it is recovering toward stability" Chile.Despite his travels, he proudlydescribes the risingcosts of fuel and gear push his While Mclellan and Watling still don't himselfas a Mainefisherman, and is as much expenses past the $10,000mark for every run, a native of the waters surroundingGeorges the idea of breaking even has become even see eye to eye, their collaborative efforts in Bankand Jeffreys Ledgeas he is of the quiet more elusivethan the fish themselves.Yet Knight's sampling project strengthened their streets of his hometown of Boothbay. Mclellanremains committed to the idea that respect for one another. Through involve­ As populationsof groundfishcontinue to better managementcan make a difference, ment in this and other projects, Mclellan struggle, populationsof draggermen are and that collaborationbetween fishermenand has developed a greater appreciation for the dwindlingas well, driven out of businessby scientistsis the best way to get there,

March/ April 2006 19 EmilyKnight at workin a DarlingMarine Center laboratory. Photo by Bill Drake

LesWatling, far right,with students in the DamariscottaRiver estuary. Photo by Linda Healy

Marine specialists on Capitol Hill

rnllyKnight's groundbreaking research andprofessional interest in working work involved in scientific research. He sees ticism is what mak es th em so similar to Ewith both fishermanand marinescien ­ fisherman-scientist collaborations as critical scientists. Commercial fishing is certainly a tistsresulted in her beingtapped fot a new to a workable management plan. science, filled with trial and error, variables opportunityin Washington, D.C. "When I first received money for doing last fall. Knight was namedone of two and controls; science is a kind of fishing, Universityof Mainegraduate students to research work, there was a lot of resentm ent where theories are uph eld or denied based receivea prestigiousJohn A. KnaussMarine on the waterfront. Some people thought I on the outcome of the final haul. Both fish­ PolicyFellowship . Thissemester; she is work­ was getting a handout , and others were ermen and scientists require patience, skill ing asan oceansandfisheries specialist in the afraid that if we got really bad results, we and experience to achieve competenc e; both nation'scapital . Knight,who receivedher might end up with emergenc y closures," require skepticism and drive to succeed. master'sdegree in oceanographyin Decem­ says McLellan. "I just wanted to make sure Knight hop es to use her training to help ber;1s now a Knaussfellow in the officeof MaineRep. Tom Allen . that regulations were being based on facts ensure cooperation at all levels. AnotherUMaine graduate student, marine rather than opinion. Ignorance of wha t's "I'd like to bring science into the policy biologyand policy major Sheril Kirshenbaum , happ ening out there is just going to work area," she says. "Not only is there a discon­ alsois workingin Washington as a Knauss against us in the long tenn ." nect between science and fishenn en, there's a fellow. Sheis in the officeof Sen.Bill Nelson Fishermen and scientists will lik ely disconn ect betw een science and manage ­ of Florida. KnaussFellowships, administered through cont inu e to be on opposite sides of th e ment, with a lot of miscommuni cation on the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Admin ­ proverbial fence when it comes to manage­ both sides. Academic researchers don't want istration, are awardedto about40 graduate ment of th e fish ery, and any reasonable to get into policy, but somebody needs to studentseach year. mana gement plan will requir e no small interpret research to managers and bring it to As part of her dutiesin Washington, amo unt of co mpromis e. Th e irony, of the public forum so mor e of the communi ty Knightis usingher expertise in marinescience course, is that fishermens hard-boiled skep- can have a voice in what scientists do." andcommunication to researchpolicy issues relatedto the protectionof Mainefishermen and the underseaenvi ronmenton whichthey depend. Shecredits her UMaine experie ience “ I am pretty firmly convinced with preparingher for lhe challengesahead. that if the groundfishing industry doesn’t soon begin to "I wantedto makesure that I didsome­ undertake measures to conserve thingthat bothallowed me to workdirectly complex bottom habitat, there with fishermenand had a meaningfulconnec ­ will be little chance that fishery tionto the environment,"says Knight of her will ever recover to levels seen research."I chose UMainebecause I knewthe 50 or 100 years ago.” trawlerproject wou ld allowme to do that, and it workedout reallywell." Les Watling

20 UMaineToday student focus A new course for Maine boatbuilding

U.S. NAVY SEAL TEAMS often use Mark V UMaine graduate student Kate Special OperaLions Crafls Lo quickly get in Stephens is one of the engineers and out of sticky situations. But the working with the Office of Naval aluminum insertion \'essels speed. durability Research and the boatbuilding team at Hodgdon Yachts to and maneuverabiJity come at a cosl: repeated improve the U.S. Navy's Mark V. impact strain and il1juries caused when Lhe lightweight crafL skips across the waves. ONR believes Stephens' test will be of great University of Maine mechanical engi­ value when designing new composite boats. neering graduate student Kate Stephens is Maine has a long history of building out to change that. ln the process, she also military vessels. but contracts for smaller, may help point Maine boatbuilding in a new high-tech designs have largely been awarded direction. elsewhere. By combining the facilities and Stephens, who received a bachelor's expertise at Hodgdon Yachts with the tech­ degree in civil engineering at UMaine last nological advances being made at UMaine, May, is a key player in a cooperative effort the project has the potential to open a new involving the university, the Office of Naval market for the state. The project has already Research (ONR) and the boatbuilcling team resulted in the creation of a new company at Hodgdon Yachts in East Boothbay, Maine. Maine Marine Manufacturing LLC, the The project brings together cutting-edge prime contractor for the. consLrnction of the composites technologies spearheaded by full-scale technology demonstrator called UMaine's Advanced Engineered Wood the Mark Vl, plans on competing for the Composite Center (AEWC) and the long Photo by David Munson contract to replace the Mark V fleet. tradition of quality boatbuilding at Hodgdon and elsewhere that can absorb the shock "Through collaboration with the univer­ Yachts. lts success could mean hundreds of created by high-speed travel. By dampening sity, our team is able. to compete for the millions of dollars in boatbuilding contracts the effects of the boat's repeated impacts as it Mark V replacement contract, which is in in the state. skims across the waves. the new materials the range of $200 million. vVe didn't have "This is a great opportunity for Maine's can help protect the crew from back, neck that opportunity before," says Steve Von boatbuilding industry," says Stephens, a and joint injuries. Vogt, president of Maine Marine Manufac­ native of Harpswell, Maine. "The lab work Working with her adviser, AEWC tech­ turing. "Bob and Kates work in the compos­ that we have done shows real progress. nical services manager Bob Lindybe.rg, ites lab has played an important part in the \Ve're setting milestones with every test." Stephens has developed and refined an project all along. This is not just theoretical While the project's aim is to improve the innovative impact test that was used to research that they are doing, this is about original Mark V, a primary goal is to use select the composite material with the great­ putting a deployable, high-tech design in specialized composite materials in the hull est shock-absorbent properties. Ultimately, the water for actual use by the military"

The U.S. Navy’s high-performance Mark V Special Operations Craft is designed to improve maritime capabilities. U.S. Navy photo

March/April 2006 21 insinsightshts MAINE Momentumm Sensing The Research Plan to Create Jobs education A NEW STRATEGIC Investingin researchto contributing to science plan at the University of strengthenMaine and providing an excit­ Maine called Momen­ in g education, " says tum aims to increase "We want to spark innovation and support UMaine Vice President funding for research new ideas across campus, and help them to for Researc h Michael and development , and grow. We also want our already successful Eckardt. to grow programs that programs to become world-class. Ultimately, Momentum builds BY THE YEAR 2011, more than contribute to economic UMaine research will help improve life for on a tiered investment $4 million in funding from the development in Maine. everyone in the state by creating jobs and strategy: several faculty National Science Foundation (NSF), Research at the growing the economy." research growth proj- including $1.9 million in newly award- uni versi ty has experi­ Michael Eckardt ects will receive small ed monies, will translate into nearly a enced hearty growth in awards; a more select decade of science and engineering the past several years; expenditures topped $65 group of new and emerging areas will receive education in Maine middle schools million in fiscal year 2005, and UMaine lever­ larger awards. The largest portion will b e and high schools through the aged $5 for every $1 invested by the state. But invested in three to four strategic focus areas, University of Maine’s GK-12 Sensors! the state's base-funding contributions through which will be expected to become self-sustaining and Research Experience for Teachers the Maine Economic Improv em ent Fu n d wit hin five years, crea ting sp ace for growing (RET) Sensors! initiatives. (MEIF), established by the legislatur e, ha ve other programs. In this state, GK-12 Sensors! spins been mostly stagnant since 2002 . Momentum "We want to spark innovation and support off UMaine’s high-profile sensor asks for an increase in base funding to bring the new ideas across campus, and help th em to research in the Laboratory for Surface state's research investment up to par with that of grow," Eckardt says. "We also want our already Science and Technology. The initiative the region and the nation. successful programs to become world-class. is directed by Electrical and Computer "The University of Maine' s rese arch is Ultimately, UMaine research will help improve Engineering Professor John Vetelino, uniqu e in the state, in that our faculty develop life for everyone in the state by creating jobs assisted by Constance Holden, spatial research into products that create job s, while and growing the economy " information science and engineering instructor, and Steve Godsoe, a Bangor High School teacher.

Graduate student scientists and I engineers in sensor research take FINDING A WAY for human cells to reject invasions by their knowledge into the classroom. Fighting influenza , HIV, Ebola and other viruses is the focus of The graduate fellows collaborate with research by a University of Maine physicist, funded by a teachers, many of whom become the flu five-year, $615,000 grant from the National Ins titutes of involved in sensor science and engi- Health (NIH). neering in RET summer sessions. Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Sam Students learn about sensor sci- with Hess, a former NIH biomedical researcher, received the ence and engineering in their chem- career award to study how viruses penetrate cellular istry, physics, biology, environmental physics membranes and what might be done to block infection. science, math, computer science or Hess is collaborating with UMaine physicist R. Dean social sciences classes, which increas- Astumian and NIH colleague Joshua Zimmerberg . Using ingly include community outreach laser-scanning fluorescence microscopes, Hess is studying projects. Ultimately, they come to how cholesterol and lipids play a role in assisting viral proteins understand the sensor technology to bond to the surface of cells, then penetrate and infect them. that is all around them, and are Specifically, Hess is looking at hemagglutinin, the protein from encouraged to pursue careers in sci- influenza virus that opens a fusion pore in membranes of host cells to allow ence and engineering. in the infection. Removal of cholestero l from membranes appears to have At the end of its third year in 2005, inhibitory effects on hemagglutinin. UMaine’s GK-12 Sensors! was inte- "We're using these lasers and spectroscopy to see what's going on in a grated into 11 rural and urban schools. virus," he says. "If we can find out why influenza needs cholesterol, it may be the same reason HIV,or some other virus, needs cholesterol."

22 UMaineToday HUD grant builds downtown coalition Insightnsightlttelite THEY ARE QUESTIONS people and programs that plague many urban aimed at fostering a posi­ areas : How does a city tive environment for all in make youths feel welcome Bangor's downtown neigh­ downtown while avoiding borhoods. Maine conflicts with businesses The project, spear­ and residents? How does a headed by Kathryn Hunt of Women community provide enough the Margaret Chase Smith In an online women's studies course affordabl e housing for Policy Cent er, involves on Maine women, taught by Carol elderly and low -income more than 20 downtown Toner, coordinator of the Maine residents? How do people organizations. Distrib­ Studies Program at the University of build and maintain a level uted over three years, the Maine, each student starts the of connectedness that federal funds will support semester by listing five of the most important women in state history. fo sters a vit al, dynamic three main initiativ es: the In observance of Women's History downtown? Community Inclusion Month in March, we're sharing the ln Bangor, Maine, a Project, helping hom eless most frequent names on that list. teens and other disenfran­ battery of newl y funded The first six are mentioned most. and far-reaching commu­ chised residents to recon­ nity programs may provide nect with the city; the som e answ er s . Th e U.S. Salv ation Army' s Power­ Department of Housing At the heart of many UMB-COPC house Teen Cent er; and a Sarah Orne Jewett - author and Urban Development initiatives is service learning. UMaine needs assessment of hous­ (HUD) recently awarded students are applying their skills in ing and special services for Edna St. Vincent Millay - poet/author nearl y $400,000 to th e the field for the benefit of the elderly resid ent s and Margaret Chase Smith - Univ ersity of Maine to community. The project will combine persons with disabilities. politician establish a UMaine-Bangor the enthusiasm of dozens of UMaine The project is expected Susan Collins - politician Community Outreach Part­ students with the expertise of to create new avenues of Olympia Snowe - politician ner ship Center (UMB­ 27 faculty members representing all communication bet w een CO P C), a colle ction of six of the university's colleges. UMaine and the community. Ruth Moore - author Mabel Wadsworth - women's health reformer Elizabeth Russell - geneticist Dogfish sharksDown East Mildred Brown Schrumpf - home economist EW TENANTS at the Center for Coopera ­ istrative Director Charlie Wray. Joan Benoit Samuelson - N tive Aquaculture Research in Frankli n . Boarding the fish in Franklin is a win-win marathon runner Maine, are proving that the facility lives up to its solution. UMaine's new building includes a high­ Molly Spotted Elk - dancer name. tech, temperature-controlled, closed-circulation Chansonetta Stanley Emmons - A school of 30 common spiny dogfish, system, providing a warm environment that is photographer Squalus acanthias, are now swimming around in much to the fishes' liking. MDIBL researcher s Lillian Nordica - opera singer now have a relatively short trip to retri eve the two 12-foot, 3,500-gallon tanks at the center, Dorothea Dix - where research includ es studies of halibut, cod dogfish as needed, and can continue to buy them mental health reformer and salmon. The small sharks, which average 4 live from local groundfishermen. Cornelia "Fly Rod" Crosby - feet long, belong to the Mount Desert Island The arrangement demonst rates the univer ­ outdoorswoman Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) in Salisbury sity's a bility to extend its services to enterprises Carolyn Chute - author Cove, Maine. They are helping geneticists under­ throughout the state. Martha Ballard - midwife stand human diseases, including cystic fibrosi . Harriet Beecher Stowe - author The migratory sharks Rhea Cote Robbins - author show up in th e Gulf of Louise Bogan - author Maine in May or June . But to Edith Patch - mainta in their stock year-round, author and entomologist MDIBL researchers had to buy live Gail Laughlin - lawyer and dogfish in Cape Cod, which then had women 's rights activist be tructruckedked toto MMaineaine - — aa time-contime consum- Emma Eames - opera singer ing and expensive process, nol ing and expensive process, not to Cathie Pelletier - author mention a a m missedissed oppo opportunityrtunity for for Maine Donna Loring - politician fishermen,fishermen, sayssays MDIBLMDIBL Associate Associate Admin- March/April 2006 23 i@ il hts

oil crops for What is an idea? SPARKING AND SUPPORTING abeth Downing. Together, student entrepreneurship the three facultymembers offer perspectives from is an important new 4 dimension of the under­ their fieldson how a vari­ graduate experience at the ety of bright ideas can University of Maine. A come to fruition. number of initiatives are Students learnhow to 1111 under way, setting the stage separate big ideas from for the Student Innovation smaller ones, andhow to Center, scheduled to open know if an idea is worth on campus thisyear. the investment of time One of these initiatives and money is an interdisciplinary Entrepreneurs, both studies course, designed to novice and seasoned, help students develop a have to know how to systematic, engineering confidently talk about approach to inventing, and present an abstract evaluating and selling idea in concrete terms in innovative ideas with order to increasethe odds BIODIESEL commercial viability. of marketplace success. Innovation Engineer­ The new Innovation Center on They also have to under­ WITH THE HELP of a University of ing I: The Beginning of an campus will be an incubator for stand the logistics that Maine Cooperative Extension Idea is taught by UMaine student entrepreneurs. Here, they will are involved in taking an crops specialist, the Houlton Band of chemical and biological tap into faculty expertise and other innovation from concept Maliseet Indians is exploring the logis- engineer Darrell Donahue, resources to develop innovative prod­ to reality. tics of establishing a biodiesel refinery English scholar Margaret ucts and services, and take the first The three-credit class in northern Maine. Lukensand musician Eliz- steps toward creating businesses. is in itssecond semester. Assistant Extension Professor Peter Sexton, based in Aroostook County, provided expertise as part of a feasibility study for the Maliseets, conducted by TH ·E-MONTH GEO O I L expedition to gal.her data on the history of sea level the consulting firm Regent Associates chang along Ireland' pecta ular coastline has produced new evidence about the Emerald He contributed research data and field Isle' h�storical relationship with collancl. expertise for the initial grant proposal, A , and helped to outline the potential for University of Maine geologistJoe Kelley; and fellowresearchers Andrew Cooper and Derekjack­ oil crop production in the state. son of the University of Ulster used seismic reflection and coring techniques, finely tuned through years of similar data collection in the Gulfof Maine, to disprove some previous theories about the Sexton also is pursuing research that composition of marine sediments. The data suggest that Ireland was never linked to Scotland via a involves testing the viability of Maine- land bridge, thusanswering an importantgeological and anthropological question. grown canola and other oil crops as Using carbon dating of buried seashells as a temporal point of reference, Kelley examined the potential sources of raw material for the stratification of sand, gravel and marine mud deposits, establishing a timeline for the emergence of manufacture of biodiesel. the unique geological characteristics of the Irish coast spanning tens of thousands of years. That According to John Cancelarich of timeline contradicts the long-held notion that Ireland's first human population walked to Ireland Regent Associates, the proposed refin- fromScotland. dry would produce 5 million gallons of biodiesel annually for distribution in the state. Currently, Maine does not produce enough oil crops, including soybeans, to supply such a facility, but Cancelarich predicts that acreage in the state would double or triple in a short time. Secrets of the Irish coast Talks have begun regarding poten- tial markets and investors.

24 UMaine Today . . lasting 1mpress1on

LASTFALL AT THE University of Maine,secretary Karen Stormann made history.In Alumni Hall,she was sortingthrough boxesof inactivefiles from the Officeof the Vice Presidentfor Administrationand Financewhen she discoveredthree boundvolumes containing the earliestboard of trustee recordsfor the Universityof Maine,then calledthe Maine StateCollege of Agricultureand the MechanicArts. Fogler Library Special Collections Head RichardHollinger and archivistBrenda Steeves confirmed the ledgers' authenticity.The documentation of UMaine'searliest days will be part of a universityarchive being establishedin SpecialCollections with the help of a $5,000grant from the MaineHistorical Records Advisory Board. The college'sfirst boardhad 16 trusteeselected by the legislature,each representinga county.The trustees included Hannibal Hamlin, pictured left, who was selectedpresident. Hamlin, a PenobscotCounty lawyer, served in the Maine legislatureand the U.S.Congress, and as Mainegovernor, AbrahamLincoln's vice presidentand a ministerto Spain.

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A Bit of Stonington , Maine by John Marin, watercolor, 1926 Collection of the University of Maine Museum of Art, Anonymous Donor Photo illustration from images by Gina Platt Exhibition framework

ORKS OF MAINE ARTl T John Marin ar among With the Museum of Arts move to a new, larger, state-of­ the more than 5,700 pieces in the Univer ity of the-art location in downtown Bangor in 2002, many more W Maine Museum of Art' permanent coll tion that pieces from the permanent collection are on exhibit. An 80- could be reintroduced to the public with th e help of a new year-old Marin painting, A Bit of Stonington, Maine, recently endowment fund. The Museum of Art Acquisition and returned from conservation treatment and framing as part of the Conservation Endowment Fund has been established in the contemporary art museum's enhanced conservation efforts . University of Maine Foundation. Support to help fully endow With the help of the new fund, pieces like a 1922 etching by the fund will make it possible to increase efforts to restore and Edward Hopper and a circa 1946 watercolor by Andrew Wyeth preserve existing pieces, and to expand the collection. also will be available for rotation into the museums exhibitions.

UNIVERSITY of MAINE FOUNDATION Two Alumni Place 100 Fod en Road , Suite 303 , W. Buildin g Orono, Maine 04469-5792 www.umainefoundation.org South Portland , Maine 04106 207-581-5100 or 800 -982-8503 207-253-5172 or 800-449-2629