Mitchell Center/USGS Funded Research

2007   l   2006   l   2005   l   2004   l   2003   l   2002   l   2001

The Maine - USGS Water Research Resources Institute, a program of the Mitchell Center, constitutes the Maine grants program as authorized by the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1984. Section 104 of the Act authorizes the US Geological Survey to provide funds for research programs in each state to assist the Nation in addressing needs in water resources and technology. These funds are used to support research and information transfer projects in the areas of water resources and related environmental sciences. Approximately $100,000 each year is awarded competitively following external peer review and selection by a panel of Maine environmental specialists and researchers. Click here for information on this year's request for proposals. Following is a list of funded projects.

Fiscal Year 2007 Program

Research Projects

The influence of chloride and natural organic matter gradients on disinfection by-product formation in Maine
PI: John Peckenham
Co-PI(s): Gail Lipfert, Touradj Solouki, Andy Tolman
Abstract: This project evaluates the potential of disinfection by-product (DBP) formation in source waters for the purpose of determining the availability of treatable water resources. This project quantifies the spatial controls on watershed and total organic carbon (TOC) characteristics and chloride gradients to predict disinfection by-products (DBPs) in source water across the state of Maine. Concentrations of
trihalomethanes (THMs), haloacetic acids (HAAs), total organic carbon (TOC), and the ratios of THM to HAA increase with distance from the ocean, whereas chloride concentrations decrease. The relationships among these trends, however, are not clear cut. Structural, compositional, and reactive properties of TOC are measured and compared with watershed properties, such as land use, land cover, drainage ratio, and soil adsorption. The role of the chloride gradient is tested by measuring DBP formation with variable chloride concentrations experimentally.

A 31P NMR investigation of phosphorus speciation in sediments of two shallow lakes in Maine, USA
PI: Aria Amirbahman
Co-PI(s): Bishop, Karl Bishop, Roy Bouchard, Bjorn Lake, Stephen Norton
Abstract: The frequency of annual algal blooms in East Pond (Smithville, Maine, USA) has been increasing in the past two decades. Meanwhile, the trophic status of the hydrologically-linked, North Pond, has remained relatively constant, even though both ponds have similar morphometry and geology. The purpose of this
study is to determine the importance of sedimentary internal phosphorus (P) loading to the water column for both ponds that supports the algal populations by supplying the algae with an essential nutrient required for growth. We will determine the P speciation in each pond by using 31P NMR spectroscopy and sequential chemical extraction techniques. We will also perform laboratory incubation experiments to
determine the P release potential for each lake. By knowing the P speciation and release potential, we will be able to determine whether internal P loading should be considered when planning remediation strategies for East Pond.

Biological Effects of Pharmaceutically Derived Estrogens from Wastewater Effluents in the Penobscot River, Maine
PI: Gregory Mayer
Abstract: The occurrence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the aquatic environment is of growing concern in the industrialized world. One class of pharmaceutically derived environmental contaminants includes the synthetic estrogens commonly found in oral contraceptives and hormone replacement
therapies. Synthetic estrogens such as these mimic natural estrogens at the receptor level, but are more resistant to degradation by natural processes. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) handle domestic and industrial wastes in the state of Maine. Effluents from WWTPs are chemical mixtures that often contain a
variety of xenoestrogens. Domestic wastewater treatment effluent can potentially contain significant levels of natural and synthetic hormones such as estradiol, estrone and ethinylestradiol. This application proposes the analysis of effluent from and water downstream of WWTPs on the Penobscot River, Maine. Initially,
four local WWTPs will be utilized in studies to determine estrogenicity of effluent in differing types of treatment processes. Effluents will be analyzed from the Old Town, Orono, Veazie, and Bangor treatment facilities. These 24 hour composite samples will be analyzed for estrogen activity via a cell based reporter assay. Animal based studies will include treatment of zebrafish to whole effluents, mixing zone waters,
and waters from selected transects downstream of the four treatment facilities listed above. Zebrafish exposures will last for seven days after which the fish will be sacrificed for analysis. Briefly, fish will be exposed to various test waters and mRNA transcript abundance will be determined for the estrogen-induced gene vitellogenin and the estrogen repressed gene CYP1A1. These indices will help us to determine the relative estrogenicity of effluents from differing treatment works along the Penobscot.

A Novel Approach to Assessing Multiple Stressor Effects in Maine Fishes
PI: Rebecca Van Beneden
Co-PI(s): Frank Drummond, Adria Elskus, Brian Perkins
Abstract: There is need for a rapid, biological screen to evaluate multiple stressor conditions in Maine’s waters. Maine rivers and lakes feature a broad range of stressors, including acidity, aluminum (Al), endocrine-disrupting chemicals, organochlorines and pesticides. Many of these are present simultaneously. Exposure to a mixture of contaminants could have effects on fish that would not be predicted from exposure to individual stressors alone. For example, co-exposure of amphibians to the pesticide carbaryl in the presence of predator scent increased carbaryl toxicity 2-4 fold relative to carbaryl exposure alone [1]. Of particular concern for fish in Maine’s Downeast rivers (Washington County) is the combination of blueberry pesticides, acidic water and elevated levels of Al, each of which has been implicated in hindering the recovery of endangered Maine Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) [2]. Whether the pesticide mixtures alone, or in combination with high acidity and elevated Al levels, adversely affect fish health, is unknown. An additional concern is the need to provide input on the effects of proposed changes, including alterations in pesticide usage and plans to neutralize river acidity. For example, the Maine blueberry industry currently proposes to replace two of the pesticides found consistently in Maine rivers, phosmet and hexazinone, with candidate alternatives, spinosad and mesotrione, for which fish early life stage effects have not been evaluated. Plans by NOAA-Fisheries to neutralize the acidity of Downeast rivers as a mitigation tool have been put on hold until more information is available on the potential beneficial/detrimental effects of this action [3]. The slow developmental rate and seasonal limitations of egg production preclude the use of Atlantic salmon early life stages in toxicant screens. Therefore, we propose to conduct an initial evaluation of zebrafish (Danio rerio) early life stages as a high through-put screen to assess pesticide/acid/aluminum conditions that may be harmful to fish. Due to their rapid developmental rate (fertilization to feeding in 5 days), transparent embryos, low cost, and the high degree of conservation of vertebrate developmental genes, zebrafish are widely used for studying toxicity mechanisms in vertebrates, particularly in early life stages [4, 5]. Because fish species can vary in their sensitivity to toxicants, we will expose zebrafish and Atlantic salmon early life stages to the same treatments to assess the utility of zebrafish as a model for Maine’s endangered Atlantic salmon. Our overall objective is to evaluate the potential for a fast, inexpensive bioassay procedure for assessing the impact of multiple stressors on fish. Since functional impairment in early life stages is a more sensitive measure of the response to toxicants than mortality or morphological defects [6], we will evaluate performance fitness. We will screen stressor combinations in doses reflective of those in the rivers and 10-fold higher and evaluate fitness (immune function, prey capture) in zebrafish and salmon larvae. The on fish sensitive early-life stages before these pesticides come into use, determine whether neutralization of pesticide-contaminated river water is protective, and provide preliminary data for determining whether zebrafish are viable toxicant models for salmonids. If successful, this model system will be expanded to include additional classes of stressors identified in Maine rivers and provide a means by which to rapidly and efficiently evaluate the toxic potential of multiple stressors in aquatic ecosystems.

Assessing the role of natural flow variability and the impact of flow standards
on Maine’s surface waters
PI: Shaleen Jain
Co-PI(s): David Courtemanch, David Hart
Abstract: The State of Maines efforts toward implementing an effective framework for water use regulation directly contribute to the broad goal of sustainable use of water supplies. The complexity of the problem (hydrologic, ecological, climatic and socioeconomic) necessitates an ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, policy makers and managers at all levels of decision-making. In this inclusive process of stakeholder input and discussion of all concerns, the role of research on pertinent issues is one of filling knowledge gaps and providing improved decision support tools for informed deliberations. To this end, this project focuses on the assessment of the role of natural hydroclimatic variability on Maines surface waters, their impact on flow metrics and rules for reliable water supply, and finally an assessment of the extent to which new rules impact ecosystem health (quantified as ecologically-relevant metrics of flow). Within the context of the ongoing rulemaking efforts for water use (co-PI Courtemanch being the lead-author of the current draft), this research is firmly embedded in the statewide process of responding to stakeholder concerns and promoting sustainable water use to balance human and ecological flow needs.

Information Ttansfer Projects

The Penobscot River Education Program: Celebrating and Strengthening Community Connections to the River that Sustains Us
PI: Beth Owen
Co-PI(s): Cheryl Daigle, Ruth Hallsworth
Project Information:

• Fact sheet
• Abstract: This project will develop an education program for fifth grade students in the Penobscot River watershed. Initially, the project involves four fifth grade classes from the Old Town Elementary School (OTES) in Old Town, Maine. The multi-disciplinary education program engages students in watershed science, river restoration ecology and cultural studies through two related projects. The first is an oral history project focusing on family and community connections to the Penobscot River, and the second is a public outreach project designed to educate citizens about the rivers historical, present-day, and future values within the watershed community. Through these two projects, the students will meet with river ecology, river restoration, and cultural history professionals working in the Penobscot River watershed; interview family and community members; explore historical documents and photographs; and conduct research on the cultural, social, economic, and ecological importance of the Penobscot River. Each student will produce an oral history document based on his/her interviews, and help collect information that will be used to produce a series of educational posters for permanent public information kiosks along the river. Funding leveraged as a result of this pilot project will expand the program to other schools in the Penobscot River watershed.

Key attributes for sustainable water use: a map-based bulletin board
PI: Peter Vaux
Abstract: This project develops a user-friendly, map-based, on-line Bulletin Board to broadly disseminate a diverse array of key information associated with sustainable water use in Maine. Integration of information from multiple resource types is essential for an effective ecosystem-based approach to sustainable water use. The Bulletin Board includes the following core components: (i) Interactive mapping, (ii) a user-developed wiki catalogue of experience-based knowledge, and (iii) an on-line geo-referenced bibliographic database. The project focuses on a set of diverse watersheds in Maine, including catchments important to Atlantic salmon. The project will involve university and agency researchers, college and high school students, and
NGOs. The generic nature of the infrastructure developed by this project will ensure that this Bulletin Board can be readily extended to other watersheds in the future.

Fiscal Year 2006 Program

A sequential time-weighted average approach for monitoring pesticide levels
in Maine surface waters
PI: Howard Patterson, Department of Chemistry, University of Maine
Abstract: Many environmental stakeholders believe that the pesticides used in the cultivation of wild and low bush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), may negatively impact Atlantic Salmon ( Salmo solar) habitats. Accordingly, specialists at the University of Maine and the Board of Pesticide Control (BPC) have used grab sampling and ISCO auto samplers to survey surface waters in Washington and Hancock Counties. The surveys reveal the presence of hexazinone, phosmet, terbacil, chlorothalonil and propiconazole in salmon-supported rivers (Yarborough, 2004; Jackson, 2003). The traditional monitoring methods mentioned above provide concentration estimates only for the moment of sampling and do not allow for an exposure assessment of aquatic organisms to the contaminants. Therefore, there are unanswered questions about the term of exposure of Atlantic Salmons or other aquatic organisms to episodic events in the streams. This project proposes to use a passive sampler (Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Sampler [POCIS]) to come up with a sequential time-weighted average monitoring approach to detect pesticides in
some Washington and Hancock Counties watersheds. The data generated from this research project will be useful in the prediction of pesticide behavior under a set of environmental conditions. Also, they will provide environmental stakeholders with important tools for assessing the potential exposure of aquatic organisms to pesticides in the affected watersheds.

Identification of Disinfection Byproducts by High Resolution Gas Chromatography Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry
PI: Touradj Solouki, Department of Chemistry, University of Maine
Co-PI: John Peckenham
Abstract: This proposal describes activities that are aimed at identifying disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in natural and treated drinking waters at the highest level of confidence currently achievable. The ultimate goal of this research is to reduce the public health risks posed by harmful DBPs in drinking water. When strong
oxidizing disinfectants such as chlorine, chloramines, chlorine dioxide, or ozone react with the natural organic matter in water, a myriad of halogenated and non-halogenated DBPs are formed. Concerns about the adverse effects of DBPs on reproductive and developmental health of human populations have fueled
the quest to identify and characterize DBPs. In spite of the extensive research to identify new DBPs, majority of these toxins has not been identified. Maine is in a unique position to take advantage of its advanced technological capabilities and become a leader in this and related emerging fields in environmental and health sciences. For the analyte detection and characterization, we propose to use a
state-of-the-art and in-house configured Gas Chromatography Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer (GC/FT-ICR MS). Our GC/FT-ICR MS provides ultrahigh mass measurement accuracy (MMA) and the highest mass resolving power (MRP) achievable with any type of GC/MS; currently, we hold the world record for the highest MRP in the field of GC/MS. The ultrahigh MMA and MRP will enable unambiguous determination of elemental compositions for unknown analytes. The proposed project provides an excellent opportunity to identify bio/geo-markers and acquire promising data for proposal submission to external funding agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Institutes of Health (NIH) in
the areas of forensics and biomedical research. The proposed research project is envisioned to produce sufficient data to enable one student to earn her M.Sc..

Does food-web structure mediate landscape-scale responses of Maine lakes to nutrient enrichment?
PI: Katherine Webster, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of Maine
Co-PIs: Linda Bacon, Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Laura Wilson, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Abstract: Unsightly algal blooms that reduce water clarity are one of the most noticeable consequences of lake eutrophication. Chlorophyll a, a measure of algal biomass, tends to increase with total phosphorus; however there is considerable scatter around this relationship. Cladoceran body size, which is directly related to grazing efficiency, may explain some of the scatter. Lakes with zooplankton communities dominated by larger cladocerans, such as Daphnia, tend to be clearer and, thus, more resilient to the effects of nutrient enrichment. The objectives of this proposed study are to (1) assess indices of cladoceran body size that best explain deviations from the relationship between nutrient concentration and water clarity in Maine lakes; (2) use cladoceran resting eggs in sediment cores to assess the relative stability of lakes with different histories of nutrient enrichment; and (3) develop and evaluate outreach tools on the subject of lake foodwebs. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate that maintenance of healthy, thus resilient lake food webs needs to accompany nutrient controls for effective lake management and sustainable lake use.

Enhancing lakefront buffer adoption through social marketing (pilot project)
PI: Laura Wilson, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Co-PI: John Jemison, University of Maine Cooperative Extension
Leading causes of impairment to our nation's waterbodies include nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen), silt, and suspended solids (US EPA, 2005). In Maine lakes, phosphorus is the nutrient that most often limits algal production. Runoff from single-family low density development exports five to ten times more phosphorus than forested land (Dennis, 1986). The lakefront vegetative buffer area is the last opportunity for the removal of phosphorus and other nonpoint source pollutants from stormwater runoff. Ribbons of trees and shrubs around a shoreline capture nutrients and pollutants from developed areas, stabilize the shoreline and provide wildlife habitat. It is important to preserve and restore damage to wetlands and riparian areas
because these areas can play a significant role in managing adverse water quality impacts (US EPA, 2005).

Lakes in Maine are under increasing development pressure. Seasonal camps are converted to year round use and greatly expanded. Many new lakefront property owners bring with them ideas and visions of the suburban lawn they left behind, failing to realize their vision is actually detrimental to the lake. To further illustrate the increasing threat to Maine lakes from development, there is now a proposal to construct resorts and subdivisions in the unorganized territory of the North Maine Woods (Plum Creek development proposal for Moosehead Lake Region).

Residential land use decisions are made on the homeowner scale. As our lakefronts become more developed with seasonal and year-round homes, management becomes fragmented, with individuals making decisions based on their own perceptions of what a property should look like. Volunteers conducting a Watershed Survey of Pushaw Lake (UMCE, 2003) found that 181 of the 900 lakefront properties (20%) lack a lakefront buffer. The lack of a lakefront buffer has been documented in many lake watershed surveys (e.g. Maine DEP, 2001). This issue needs to be addressed in order to provide long-term protection to Maine lakes. While some of these properties may be in violation of shoreland zoning regulations, the majority were cleared before those regulations were in effect, and education and marketing are the only tools available to effect change on these properties.

Due to strong volunteer and lake association support, partnerships between the Greater Pushaw Lake Association, UMCE and the Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District (including a recently-awarded US EPA section 319 grant to the PCSWCD for remediation efforts in the Pushaw watershed), we have a unique opportunity to capitalize on current remediation efforts and develop a better understanding of how to market lakefront buffers to individual landowners. We will also begin to develop a database of successful (and unsuccessful) social marketing tools.

Fiscal Year 2005 Program

Metal mobilization from municipal biosolids stockpiles: The role of dissolved organic matter (Year 2)

Aria Amirbahman, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maine

John M. Peckenham, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, University of Maine
Abstract: This project involves field observations and laboratory experiments to assess the mobilization potential of trace metals from municipal biosolids stockpiles. We propose to study the concentration, speciation, and lability of trace metals released from the biosolids both in surface runoff and in groundwater leachate.
Field observations include monitoring of metals concentrations in the solid-phase, and in the biosolids dissolved organic matter (DOM), at our field site in Maine. Laboratory experiments will be conducted using the biosolids DOM collected from the field to determine the stability and the electrochemical lability of trace metal-DOM complexes. Both field and laboratory studies will be done using the runoff and the leachate as a function of the age of the biosolids stockpile.

Do Natural Chloride Gradients Affect the Formation of Disinfection By-Products in Public Water Supplies?
Steve Kahl, Center for the Environment, Plymouth State University
John Peckenham, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, University of Maine
Abstract: Disinfection by-products (DBP) are chlorinated or brominated compounds representing the reaction of the halogens with natural organic matter (NOM) in the water. These compounds in drinking water are themselves a health concern. We have preliminary evidence that the formation of DBPs is associated with environmental gradients, such as chloride, in source waters. The hypothesis is that natural chloride (and other marine halides) predisposes NOM in the source water to become a particular type of DBP in the finished water. We propose to test this hypothesis by analyzing the chemical associations between NOM, halides (Cl and Br), and DBP along a 350 km long gradient from coastal to interior drinking water supplies. Our hypothesis, if supported, would affect the management of water supplies, and potentially alter how source water is processed. The understanding and control of DBPs is the single biggest compliance challenge facing small to medium-sized water utilities in the near future (USEPA, 2001).

A Pilot Study to Evaluate the Potential for River Water Toxicity to Increase Following Dam Removal
Gregory Mayer, University of Maine
Adria Elskus, U.S. Geological Survey
Rebecca Van Beneden, University of Maine
Carol Kim, University of Maine
Brian Perkins, University of Maine
Lawrence LeBlanc, University of Maine
Abstract: There has been a precipitous decline in anadromous fish populations, with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) populations in 8 Maine rivers listed as endangered in 2000. Dam removal has been identified as the most important strategy for restoring salmon populations in Maine and two dams on Penobscot River, Great Works Dam and Veazie Dam, have been designated for removal. Dam removal can result in release of contaminants from riverine sediments into overlying waters, potentially increasing water toxicity to resident species, including anadromous fish. Because dams will be removed as part of the Penobscot River Restoration Project, there is a need to evaluate the toxic potential of Penobscot River sediments prior to dam removal (dam removal will start no sooner than 2007, http://www.penobscotriver.org/faq.html). We will use a simple laboratory-based, sediment resuspension design and two well-established aquatic toxicology models, fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and zebrafish (Danio rerio), to evaluate if
resuspension of Penobscot River sediment significantly elevates the toxicity of river water as measured by fish survival, hatch success, development, and immune competence, whether bioactive metals and/or endocrine disrupting substances are present, and to provide preliminary information on the types of chemicals likely to desorb during resuspension.
Elskus, A.A. 2006 'Studying Toxicity : evaluating the potential for increase river water toxicity following dam removal'  International Water Power and Dam Construction, March 2006, pp. 30-32.

Penobscot River Synthesis
Peter Vaux, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, University of Maine
Catherine Schmitt, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, University of Maine
Abstract: The Penobscot River Synthesis will develop a comprehensive bibliography of scientific references and resources related to the Penobscot River. The Synthesis is designed for use by scientists and educators interested in the Penobscot River Restoration Project, dam removal research, and the environmental history of the Penobscot River. The bibliography will be hosted on PEARL, the online database of
environmental information in Maine (www.pearl.maine.edu). A second part of the proposed project, A Penobscot River Journal, will interpret the scientific information from the bibliography for a lay audience in newspaper articles and a printed publication produced by Maine Sea Grant.

Valuing Environmental Changes for Decision Making: Dam Removal and Restoration on the Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers
Lynne Lewis, Bates College
Curtis Bohlen, Trout Unlimited
Laura Rose Day, Penobscot River Restoration Project
Abstract: This proposed project seeks to refine methods of capturing the economic value of river restoration. Current methodologies often prove inadequate to address the needs of policy makers for value estimates. Values that can be used during decision making about river restoration and especially during the FERC relicensing process, which requires cost-benefit analysis, are especially needed. This proposal seeks funds to initiate an ex-post evaluation of the Edwards Dam removal on the Kennebec River and a preliminary a priori valuation study for the recently signed Penobscot River Restoration Settlement Agreement. The project also seeks to link ecosystem structure and function to human values and to examine the components of restoration projects that generate those values. In particular, we have designed two
valuation projects that can be carried out by undergraduates and two pilot studies intended to explore theory of nonmarket valuation and to demonstrate the feasibility of novel research methods. They will be carried out at a relatively small scale while we work to acquire additional funding for a larger project.

Fiscal Year 2004 Program

Metal mobilization from municipal biosolids stockpiles: The role of dissolved organic matter (Year 1)

Aria Amirbahman, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME

John M. Peckenham, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research, University of Maine, Orono, ME

Richard S. Behr, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Augusta, ME

 

Native and Invasive Aquatic Plant "Virtual Herbarium"

Dan Buckley, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maine,

Farmington, ME

Scott Williams, Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program

Don Cameron, Maine Natural Areas Program; Maine Department of Conservation

John McPhedran, Maine Department of Environmental

Protection

Steve Kahl, Senator George J. Mitchell Center; University of Maine, Orono, ME

 

Nutrient cycling within the Meduxnekeag River and the use of periphytic algae as an indicator of nutrient loadingBryan Dail, University of MaineSteve Kahl, University of Maine

Katherine Webster, University of Maine

 

Evaluating scope and trends for decreasing base cations (and increasing diluteness) in surface waters of the northeast

Steve Kahl, George Mitchell Center, University of Maine

Katherine Webster, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine

Ivan Fernandez, Department of Plant and soil Sciences, University of Maine

Catherine Rosfjord, George Mitchell Center, University of Maine

 

Integrating Biological and Streams Data into PEARL

Peter Vaux, Research Associate Professor of Water Resources, Mitchell Center

Steve Kahl, Director, Mitchell Center

Kate Beard, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Spatial Engineering,

University of Maine

 

A Field Guide to Aquatic Phenomena

Katherine E. Webster, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maine

Catherine Schmitt, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental & Watershed Research

Barbara Welch, Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Fiscal Year 2003 Program

Effects of local and landscape heterogeneity on mercury loadings in palustrine amphibians from Acadia National Park, Maine
Aria Amirbahman, University of Maine, Civil and Environmental Engineering)
Cynthia S. Loftin, MECFWRU, USGS-BRD

Nitrate Mobility in Shallow Groundwater Near Biosolids Stockpiles
Willem Brutsaert, University of Maine, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
John M. Peckenham, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
Bruce Hunter, Maine Department of Environmental Protection

The functional role of forested seeps in maintaining hydrology, water quality and biological diversity in a New England watershed
Aram J.K. Calhoun, University of Maine
Andrew Reeve, University of Maine
David Bryan Dail, University of Maine

Defining 'natural' reference conditions and indicators to assess cumulative impacts of shoreline development on lakes in Maine
Katherine Webster, University of Maine, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Roy Bouchard, Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Fiscal Year 2002 Program

MtBE in Groundwater. The Maine Experiment
John Peckenham, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
Jonathan Rubin, University of Maine, Margaret Chase Smith Center

Evaluating Changes in Water Chemistry as Risk Factors for Salmon in Downeast Maine
Steve Kahl, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
John Peckenham, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
Bob Lent, US Geological Survey
Ken Johnson, University of Maine, Mitchell Center

Fiscal Year 2001 Program

Do Microorganisms Control Arsenic Mobility in Groundwater?
J. MacRae, University of Maine, Civil & Environmental Engineering
J. Peckenham, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
C. Culbertson, Maine U.S. Geological Survey

Seepage Lakes as Indicators of Climate Change
K. Webster, University of Maine, Dept. of Biological Sciences
J. Kahl, University of Maine, Mitchell Center

A Pilot Estuarine Component to the PEARL Database
P. Anderson, University of Maine, Maine Sea Grant
T. Noonan, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
S. Kahl, University of Maine, Mitchell Center
T. Janeski, Maine Coastal Program
E. Stancioff, University of Maine, Cooperative Extension

Seed Grant for Determining the Risk of Exposure to Dioxin and PCBs in Natural Water
H. Patterson, University of Maine, Chemistry Dept.
R. Van. Beneden, University of Maine, Zoology Dept.
S. Kahl, University of Maine, Mitchell Center.
D. Courtemanch, Maine Dept. of Env. Protection

Seed Grant for Determine the Fate of MtBE in Groundwater in Maine
J. Peckenham, University of Maine, Mitchell Center