MRI: Acquisition of a FlowCam to enhance Marine Science Research and Education at the University of New England

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An award is made to the University of New England (UNE) in Biddeford, Maine, to acquire a FlowCam Imaging Particle Analysis System to strengthen instrumentation for multidisciplinary research and teaching at a primary undergraduate institution. The FlowCam system will allow multiple faculty to extend their current work to the "plankton/particulate" level, and/or start new plankton/particulate-oriented projects. The FlowCam will also be used in teaching of multiple classes in several departments, in local high schools, and will support undergraduate research projects in context of a current NSF IUSE grant. Every year more than 430 undergraduates in at least 7 courses at UNE and at least 120 high school students at 2 high schools will work on FlowCam projects. Phytoplankton, zooplankton and detritus play important roles in the oceans food webs as primary producers and key food sources at the base of the food web. Including plankton/particulate-level analyses in studies on the reproduction of invasive species, fish diversity, bivalve feeding and growth rates and more will significantly increase our understanding of the respective processes and benefit several key local marine issues. Research projects will include such diverse areas as: interactions between two invasive crustacean crab species, a long-term biomonitoring study on phyto- and zooplankton, ichthyoplankton distribution and diversity in a small river plume, field investigations of the use of detritus by bivalves, plankton composition and structure in four lakes as it relates to climate change and watershed perturbations, and flow imaging technology for evaluation of elastin-like polymer coacervates.