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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE Marine Sciences graduate students and faculty present at national conference

Gwen Pelletier presents, "Differential Stress Tolerance at Varying Stages of the Molt Cycle in the Juvenile European Green Crab"
Gwen Pelletier presents, "Differential Stress Tolerance at Varying Stages of the Molt Cycle in the Juvenile European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas."

Several graduate students and faculty from the University of New England Department of Marine Sciences presented their research at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) in New Orleans, Louisiana. SICB is a national meeting of more than 1600 biologists. The conference is attended by leaders in the field and provided a great venue for UNE students to present their high-caliber work and to network with colleagues from multiple fields.

Graduate student Amanda Keegan presented her poster, titled, "The effects of fear to be eaten by green crabs (Carcinus maenas) on the morphology and physiology of soft shell clams (Mya arenaria)." Keegan's work investigates how soft shell clams respond to predators, and how this response affects their growth and stress physiology. Keegan found that soft shell clams are morphologically and behaviorally affected when they detect predators and other deal clams. These findings can help to model future clam productivity.

Graduate student Gwen Pelletier presented her poster, titled, "Differential Stress Tolerance at Varying Stages of the Molt Cycle in the Juvenile European Green Crab, Carcinus maenas." In her thesis project Pelletier followed multiple juvenile green crabs over a full molt cycle and characterized their stress response at the different stages of the molt cycle. Her findings provide better understanding of the complex physiology of this highly invasive crab species.

Graduate student Louis Logan's poster,"Differential Behavior, Habitat Destruction, and Stress Tolerance in four populations of Carcinus maenas" showed data on four separate populations of the highly invasive green crab. Logan found that green crabs from Nova Scotia are much more aggressive than green crabs from Newfoundland, Maine or Iceland. The findings are important for understanding eelgrass bed destruction by this species and the potential and restoration of destroyed eelgrass beds.

Keegan and Logan are graduate students in UNE’s two-year Marine Sciences graduate program. Pelletier is a graduate student in the 4+1 Marine Sciences graduate program. They all work in the research laboratory of Markus Frederich, Ph.D., professor of Marine Sciences.

Frederich presented first findings from his National Sciences Foundation-funded teaching innovation "TURBO: The Undergraduate Saco River Biodiversity Observatory; an LTER-style research experience to enhance STEM education." Through project TURBO students in the departments of Marine Sciences, Biology, Chemistry and Physics and Environmental Sciences participate in a long-term assessment and investigation of the Saco River Ecosystem. This innovative place-based teaching approach is aimed at increasing retention of students in the STEM field.

To learn more about the University of New England’s Department of Marine Sciences visit www.une.edu/cas/marine

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions

Amanda Keegan presents, "The effects of fear to be eaten by green crabs (Carcinus maenas)"
Amanda Keegan presents, "The effects of fear to be eaten by green crabs (Carcinus maenas) on the morphology and physiology of soft shell clams (Mya arenaria)."

About the University of New England

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.