A $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund a five-year initiative that aims to revolutionize environmental monitoring, ecological understanding, and sustainability of coastal ecosystems.
The University of Maine is partnering with Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and other collaborators in education, government agencies, citizens’ groups and local industry statewide.
“The Maine Environmental DNA (Maine-eDNA) initiative represents a multi-institutional partnership that will position Maine as a national leader in the understanding and sustainable use of coastal ecosystems, and in addressing the statewide workforce needs in critically important areas, including biotechnology, ecology, environmental and data sciences,” says principal investigator Kody Varahramyan, UMaine vice president for research and dean of the graduate school.