James Sulikowski's skate research focus of WGME feature

James Sulikowski, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Marine Sciences, and his students were the focus of a Feb. 10, 2011 feature story by WGME 13's Doug Rafferty. Sulikowski is researching how skates, cartilagenous fish, might be affected by last year's Gulf oil spill. "We really don't know how crude oil affects cartilagenous fish in general - sharks, skates, sting rays," Sulikowski explained. Skates, he said, are a good species to work with to develop a model because they are hardy and do well in a lab.

Skates grow slowly but in the study researchers can examine how the adults are affected, look at growth rate, and see how many die in their egg cases and whether they come out smaller. Student Liese Carleton, a first-year marine science major, was also quoted in the story. Watch the video.

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The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.