Lab News

Jamie Fogg, a Maine Top Scholar and undergraduate research assistant in the Cammen Lab, was recently featured in the Maine Epscor newsletter. Check out the article which describes her research and how she got here.

Kristina, Julia, and Jamie sampling eDNA with collaborators from Center for Coastal Studies

Jamie has worked on multiple projects as part of the Maine-eDNA research program and developed and funded her own research with a grant from the University of Maine Center for Undergraduate Research.  This past year, Jamie conducted a study in collaboration with the Center for Coastal Studies,  and co-advised by PhD student Julia Sunnarborg, which expands our understanding of eDNA dynamics around seal haulout sites. Her poster presentation of this research at the UMaine Student Symposium won the award for best undergraduate poster in Natural Sciences.

As part of a K-12 STEAM education program in collaboration with 4-H, several members of the Cammen Lab recently visited the Belfast Free Library to share their knowledge and passion about marine mammals with a group of elementary and middle school-aged children. Their program, Flippers, Fins and Fur: Exploring Marine Mammals, engaged participants in matching photographs of whales, extracting DNA from strawberries, and finding prey (pasta) in seal scat (play dough).  These activities conveyed the diverse array of techniques that we use in our lab to learn about marine mammals, and we were excited to share them with aspiring Ocean Xplorers in a coastal Maine town!

Christina McCosker, Julia Sunnarborg, Sydney Ulland, and Ella Offerdahl (left to right)

Check out this research highlight on Dara Yiu’s research in the Gulf of Maine kelp forests using eDNA and SCUBA diving techniques.  Dara is a PhD candidate in our lab who is co-advised by Doug Rasher and based at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

Maine’s kelp forests and the impact of environmental change