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Posted August, 2000

Groundbreaking Set for New Research Laboratory at Darling Marine Center in Walpole

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 8 for a new $2.5-million Marine Culture Laboratory (MCL) at the University of Maine's Darling Marine Center in Walpole. The MCL will be located a stone's throw away from the existing Flowing Seawater Laboratory (FSL) on the Center's waterfront and will support the expansion of several research programs.

The laboratory was designed by Weinrich & Burt Architects of Damariscotta and should be completed by next May. A visiting team of national marine science experts identified the need for a cold-water research facility as a top priority for the Darling Center in 1996.

The new two-story building will provide the necessary resources, space and equipment for three new directions of marine research: the study of ocean phytoplankton and optical oceanography, the study of genetics and diseases in aquaculture species and the culture of living cold water species. It will also include a much needed 30-student flowing seawater classroom and molecular biology laboratory.

The flowing seawater system in the new wet lab will double the Center's current capacity to raise living marine organisms, and it will be the most advanced system available in the state. The new wet lab will have chillers built into the seawater system, allowing researchers to maintain cold, deep-water species for observation, life history studies and experimentation. This chilled seawater system complements the existing seawater system in which heat exchangers make it possible to maintain summer seawater temperatures year round for aquaculture research.

In addition to holding tanks and aquariums, the wet lab area will also include an algal culture room and research bays for visiting scientists.

A wing of the new building will be dedicated to phytoplankton research by Mary Jane Perry, faculty member in the UMaine School of Marine Sciences. In addition to lab and office space, the Perry lab will include artificial environmental chambers and a radioisotope laboratory.

The new flowing seawater classroom will be equipped with teleconferencing equipment allowing live, interactive teaching to be broadcast to all major marine institutions in Maine. The classroom will support University of Maine marine courses as well as those taught by the 26 visiting out-of-state universities who use the Center's facilities each year.

Funding for the MCL has been secured from a variety of sources including two National Science Foundation programs, the Maine Science and Technology Foundation, the University of Maine and the State of Maine's research and development bond issue.

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