The Wrack

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 2/8/2015.

In America, enshrined in our First Amendment, we have a right to voicing our own opinions. But ever since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in France, Ive been thinking about whether free speech does have limits. If what I say ends up hurting others, or even myself, I may have a right to say it& but should I?

My tight-timeframe Wednesday birding routine started in March and carried on through December. Over that span I missed 7 mid-week morning appointments with the birds, but still completed 33 checklists accounting for 61 species.

Starlings were evident on 20 surveys, crows turned up on 19, and a handful of species appeared 11 times: robin, bluebird, a sparrow, and goldfinch.

Sand beaches are incredibly valuable to Maine. Sea walls and jetties disrupt the natural movement of sand along the coastline, creating areas of erosion that combined with rising sea level and increased frequency and severity of storms have contributed to an overall net loss of sand.

In 2014, Wells Reserve researchers trapped and counted numerous brook trout in Branch Brook as part of an ongoing project to restore these native fish and the habitat they depend on (see previous blog post). ?We caught these fish as they moved from the estuary into the freshwater reaches of Branch Brook and ascended the restore…

It is NOT about easy answers, shortcuts, or even a-ha revelations. Why on earth is that great?

Back in September we reported on a current research project going on at the reserve? green crab sampling! We now have an update on this project, but first to refresh your memory&

Over the 2014 field season, research staff and interns participated in a green crab abundance study in hopes of getting a better understanding of population dynamics of this invasive species on marshes along the coast of Maine. We used modified eels traps baited with Atlantic herring, deployed two traps at a time per site, left them for 24 hours, and repeated this process eight times between June and October.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 12/28/2014.

I sat in the tire shop the day before Christmas, waiting for the technician to switch my summer tires for winter ones, and scrutinized my fingers. Id recently read an article about new biological research that pointed to a possible explanation for one of the great mysteries that has bedeviled mankind for millennia: why DO our fingers get wrinkly in the bath?

Interdisciplinary Methods for Stakeholder Engagement and Collaborative Research

Lessons from the National Estuarine Research Reserve System

Overview

How can busy researchers work with even busier managers to facilitate effective application of science to the complex tasks of coastal management, from strategic planning to the design of best management practices and in day-to-day decision-making?

The NERR System is completing 5 years of research nationally around bridging the gulf (boundary spanning) between science and management. These workshops will review boundary spanning projects and work toward developing a primer of best practices for use in coastal management.

Workshop Goal

To build awareness, capacity, and skills to enable coastal management and research communities to use expert interdisciplinary practices to engage stakeholders in developing and implementing collaborative research projects that link science to coastal management and policy.

Project Period

• September 22 & 23, 2014 in Maine
• January 14 & 15, 2015 in Texas

WELLS, Maine, December 8, 2014  Scientists from around New England met at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve on December 5 for a workshop focused on blue carbon science and policy. For the first time, scientists from throughout the region gathered to share research results, identify gaps in knowledge, and plan future collaborations involving carbon in coastal habitats.

The term blue carbon refers to the ability of salt marshes, seagrass meadows, and mangrove forests to take up and store carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Coastal wetlands capture carbon and store it at rates even greater than rainforests.

Carbon held naturally in coastal wetlands is not entering the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas, so these habitats have real potential to mitigate climate change, said Dr. Kristin Wilson, Wells Reserve research director, who co-coordinated the workshop.

The following was published in the Biddeford-Saco?Journal Tribune Sunday edition, 12/7/2014.

My family likes to takes walks, particularly in the fall and winter. Given the calories were consuming lately, and the long nights given over to reading and TV, were trying to grab every opportunity we can to stretch our legs and lungs outside.

While golf may be a great way to spoil a long walk, as the saying goes, fortunately theres nothing like the scientific method to enhance a little wander through the woods. Proposing, testing, and analyzing hypotheses prevents hypothermia by keeping the brain warm, I tell my wife and kids. They roll their eyes& but then we find something to examine.