The Offshore Wind Energy Geographic Information System (OWEGIS) has been created to assist in planning, permitting, and development of offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine. This state of the art system is being used to collect, analyze, and graphically display information critical to the management, public review and efficient development of offshore renewable energy resources.
Development of this system is being lead by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine, Orono, and the Maine State Planning Office.
WHO'S WHO, WHAT'S WHAT
University of Maine
Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Energy (OWEGIS) Development Initiative
Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Energy (OWEGIS) Development Initiative
University of Maine
AEWC (Advanced Structures and Composites Center)
AEWC (Advanced Structures and Composites Center)
Researchers at UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center are developing experimental wind turbine blades as part of a near future test deployment in the Gulf of Maine. Currently they are testing the durability of turbine blades at the Center’s Orono lab where they are collaborating with the Ocean Energy Institute and other organizations and businesses to design, build, deploy and test large-scale composite wind energy structures.
Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative
Using National Science Foundation funding to create a Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative (FBRI), the University of Maine has marshalled a broad array of scientists as well as business partnerships and research partnerships to create fossil fuel reduction solutions focused on sustainable forest management and the creation of innovative bioproducts. The most talked about bioproducts are fuels like ethanol but perhaps the most dramaiic opportunity lies in the fact that almost everything that is now made from petroleum can also be made from wood: fuels, energy, chemicals, composites, coatings, and plastics.
Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology
LASST is an interdisciplinary research unit comprised of faculty, research staff, postdoctoral scientists, graduate students, and undergraduates from the Departments of Physics & Astronomy, Chemistry, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Chemical & Biological Engineering. Research of advanced materials spans the spectrum from basic science to applied technology in areas related to microelectronics, sensors, composites, paper, biotechnology, and other industries both within and outside the State of Maine. The research effort involves a full-time support staff, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and funding from a mix of university, state, federal, and industrial sources.
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) catalyzes community dialogue, interdisciplinary research, and science literacy to realize the natural and human potential of the Gulf of Maine bioregion. Our goal is to position the Gulf of Maine community to emerge at the forefront of a new era of maritime innovation, embracing creative strategies to harness the ocean’s productive capacity while sustaining the bioregion's vitality and character for future generations.
Our scientists partner with fishermen, environmentalists, and state and federal fishery managers to build knowledge of commercial fish species, critical habitats, fishing gear technology, and human behaviors to enable more effective fishery management in the Gulf of Maine. Our education programs engage students with the scientific method and encourage them to learn about Maine’s fresh and saltwater ecosystems. Our community programs help to identify emerging challenges and opportunities in New England fisheries and foster a climate of cooperation among a diverse mix of marine stakeholders.
Our lab serves as a node of collaborative marine research activity in the heart of northern New England’s working waterfront.
Our scientists partner with fishermen, environmentalists, and state and federal fishery managers to build knowledge of commercial fish species, critical habitats, fishing gear technology, and human behaviors to enable more effective fishery management in the Gulf of Maine. Our education programs engage students with the scientific method and encourage them to learn about Maine’s fresh and saltwater ecosystems. Our community programs help to identify emerging challenges and opportunities in New England fisheries and foster a climate of cooperation among a diverse mix of marine stakeholders.
Our lab serves as a node of collaborative marine research activity in the heart of northern New England’s working waterfront.
Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System
GoMOOS is a national pilot program designed to bring hourly oceanographic data from the Gulf of Maine to all those who need it. In 2001, GoMOOS deployed the first 10 buoys to track information above and below the ocean surface.
Measurements at the surface include wind, waves, temperature, and fog. Never before have these data been gathered at so many locations throughout the Gulf. Some, such as fog, have never been monitored at all. Below the surface, GoMOOS provides unprecedented hourly measurements of currents, temperature, salinity, color, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and more. GoMOOS also has several projects to develop and test various computer models.
The U.S. Congress tasked the National Ocean Research Leadership Council, a multi-agency body, to develop plans for a nationwide coastal ocean observing system. The founders of GoMOOS helped write the seminal design documents for the proposed national system. They conceived the national system as a federation of linked regional systems. GoMOOS is the working prototype for a regional system, serving regional states and provinces now, and preparing to serve the nation in the future.
Measurements at the surface include wind, waves, temperature, and fog. Never before have these data been gathered at so many locations throughout the Gulf. Some, such as fog, have never been monitored at all. Below the surface, GoMOOS provides unprecedented hourly measurements of currents, temperature, salinity, color, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and more. GoMOOS also has several projects to develop and test various computer models.
The U.S. Congress tasked the National Ocean Research Leadership Council, a multi-agency body, to develop plans for a nationwide coastal ocean observing system. The founders of GoMOOS helped write the seminal design documents for the proposed national system. They conceived the national system as a federation of linked regional systems. GoMOOS is the working prototype for a regional system, serving regional states and provinces now, and preparing to serve the nation in the future.
Maine Maritime Academy
Founded in 1941, Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) offers quality maritime, engineering, engineering technology, marine science, and logistics education with facilities and laboratories that are at the leading edge of technological innovation. The college offers 15 fields of undergraduate and graduate study and is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top undergraduate engineering schools in the nation. It is internationally recognized for its leadership and innovation in maritime education.
From its campus in Castine, MMA is working with UMaine researchers and other investigators to assess current prototypes and models of turbines that can be submerged in the ocean to produce power using tidal currents. In addition, MMA is also evaluating potential environmental impacts of tidal-energy generators off Maine’s northern coast.
From its campus in Castine, MMA is working with UMaine researchers and other investigators to assess current prototypes and models of turbines that can be submerged in the ocean to produce power using tidal currents. In addition, MMA is also evaluating potential environmental impacts of tidal-energy generators off Maine’s northern coast.
Center for Environmental and Watershed Research
The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research has a diverse interdisciplinary mission that focuses on environmental research, graduate education and outreach. In all these activities, the Mitchell Center is working to provide Maine’s citizens and policy-makers with unbiased and credible information that can enhance efforts to achieve healthy ecosystems, strong communities, and robust economies. The Center is committed to forming productive partnerships with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to increase the relevance and utility of our programs.
The Mitchell Center is recognized as one of the premier environmental research institutions in Maine, and, as Maine’s congressionally-authorized Water Center, is involved in state-wide water resources research. The Center promotes interdisciplinary research with other UMaine faculty, with federal and state agencies, and with other research collaborators both regionally and nationally. Research topics focus on a variety of physical, chemical, and biological processes that influence the quantity and quality of water resources.
The Mitchell Center is recognized as one of the premier environmental research institutions in Maine, and, as Maine’s congressionally-authorized Water Center, is involved in state-wide water resources research. The Center promotes interdisciplinary research with other UMaine faculty, with federal and state agencies, and with other research collaborators both regionally and nationally. Research topics focus on a variety of physical, chemical, and biological processes that influence the quantity and quality of water resources.
University of Maine
Department of Marine Sciences
Department of Marine Sciences
The school of Marine Sciences, with some 50 faculty, is the largest concentration of marine expertise in Maine, and offers one of the largest research and educational programs in the Northeast. Research activities of faculty and students range from aquaculture, marine biology, marine biotechnology, oceanography, and marine geology, to public policy and marine archaeology. In addition to the Gulf of Maine, research is conducted around the world, from the Arctic through the tropics to the Antarctic.
Many of the Department’s faculty are renowned for their research, which covers a broad spectrum of marine studies from molecular biology and biotechnology to fisheries science, fisheries economics and anthropology, and from marine geology and coastal engineering to aquaculture, marine ecology and most aspects of oceanography.
Many of the Department’s faculty are renowned for their research, which covers a broad spectrum of marine studies from molecular biology and biotechnology to fisheries science, fisheries economics and anthropology, and from marine geology and coastal engineering to aquaculture, marine ecology and most aspects of oceanography.
Climate Change Institute
The University of Maine's Climate Change Institute is an interdisciplinary research unit organized to conduct world-class research, graduate education, and environmental outreach focused on the variability of Earth's climate system, and on the interaction between humans and the natural world. The over 40 faculty and staff of the Institute provide multidisciplinary strength in the fields of: climatology, archaeology, glaciology, glacial geology, geochemistry, ecology, history, remote sensing, marine geology, and modeling.
