Maine Maritime Academy Corning School of Ocean Studies

Maine Maritime Academy Corning School of Ocean Studies This page is for MMA Corning School of Ocean Studies alumni, current and prospective students, and friends. This is a place to connect, brag, and network.

The Corning School of Ocean Studies offers dynamic majors in Marine Biology, Oceanography, and Coastal and Marine Environmental Science. Our oceanside campus and waterfront facilities are the ideal location for your comprehensive ocean-based science education. Whether it’s aboard our research vessel Friendship, in our waterfront classrooms and wet labs, or receiving your SCUBA certification, you w

ill develop an awareness of the ocean environment and of human impact on the ocean’s ecosystems. MMA offers the only program of its type in the U.S.: a five-year degree program joining Marine Biology, Oceanography, or Coastal and Marine Environmental Science with Small Vessel Operations. This popular offering combines your passion for science and love of vessels, navigation and boat handling. Graduates will receive a Bachelor’s degree and qualify for the US Coast Guard 200-ton Mate license. This license allows you to be the operator of vessels up to about 150 feet in length, including research vessels, ferries, whale watch excursion boats, and many more.

MMA Ocean Studies students Nat Cady and Nora Spratt are continuing the Year-Round Monitoring of Plankton in Penobscot Ba...
06/05/2026

MMA Ocean Studies students Nat Cady and Nora Spratt are continuing the Year-Round Monitoring of Plankton in Penobscot Bay this summer!

This project is supported by the Maine Coastal and Marine Climate Fund and has guidance from Drs. Whittaker, Whitney, and Baer. Collaborators also include the Hurricane Island Center for Science and Leadership. The project’s data will provide insight into the impact of climate change experienced in the Penobscot Bay as well as monitor the ecosystem’s health.

To do this, Nat and Nora will use three oceanographic monitoring buoys paired with phytoplankton net tow sampling. MMA’s buoy, SCOOT, is located in Smith Cove, Castine, with Hurricane Island’s buoys located off the coast of Hurricane Island and Islesboro.

Each buoy has continuous data collection for salinity, temperature, depth, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and the speed and direction of the ocean current. You can view this data in real-time via the website: https://mainemaritime.edu/penobscot-bay-plankton-monitoring/.

Phytoplankton net tows will be used to collect samples at the three buoy locations to then be processed in the MMA lab. Here, the FlowCam will be used to identify and categorize the phytoplankton species via image cytometry. These results will be available for public use on the website.

Weekly phytoplankton sampling at the buoy locations as well as buoy maintenance will occur on Thursdays throughout the summer, and monthly into the fall and winter - so stay tuned!

Pictured above is the deployment of MMA’s buoy “SCOOT” (Smith Cove Ocean Observation Tool) last week. Also seen are some favorite FlowCam images from samples collected at the MMA waterfront.

Nat and Nora will serve as FlowCam technicians and share their knowledge with Hurricane Island educational programs. They will also collect phytoplankton samples, analyze data, and perform buoy maintenance.

Last week, Ocean Studies students Tyler Nichols (MB ‘27), Mackenzie Morin (CMES ‘26), and Nicho Paulu (Oce ‘26) presente...
05/20/2026

Last week, Ocean Studies students Tyler Nichols (MB ‘27), Mackenzie Morin (CMES ‘26), and Nicho Paulu (Oce ‘26) presented their authentic ocean research at an invited presentation at The Putney School’s New England High School Marine Science Conference in Vermont. Their talk was entitled: Exploring the waters of Greenland through environmental DNA (eDNA) and oceanographic deployments from the deck of a historic schooner. In 2024 a group of MMA students and professional crew set out on a voyage aboard the historic Sailing School Vessel (SSV) Bowdoin to Greenland, through the waters of the US, Canada, and Denmark/Greenland. While the voyage was primarily focused on sail training, the scientific mission of the voyage was to collect water samples for environmental DNA analysis as well as conduct oceanographic deployments to measure salinity, temperature, and depth (CTD). This presentation highlighted key findings from the mission, including the extent and distribution of diversity of marine species along the cruise track, from Maine to Disko Bay, Greenland and back. The team sequenced over 20,000 unique species from these waters. Presenters also shared details of the voyage, and their sailing and scientific endeavors, including the challenges of conducting research underway aboard a historic sailing vessel.

Rising CMES sophomore Matt Glidden has been learning all about what it takes for a community to steward its alewife run....
05/08/2026

Rising CMES sophomore Matt Glidden has been learning all about what it takes for a community to steward its alewife run. Hired through a partnership between and the alewife committees of the Bagaduce River and Patten Stream, Matt is helping install fish passage devices through active beaver dams, clearing streams of debris, counting fish and collecting biometric data and helping with educational programs.

When you need to trim your SCUBA fins to pack into your bag- MMA’s wood shop has the tools to make that possible 😂 Marin...
05/08/2026

When you need to trim your SCUBA fins to pack into your bag- MMA’s wood shop has the tools to make that possible 😂 Marine Biology Professor Alan Verde is getting ready for his summer which includes lots of SCUBA and working with two Ocean Studies students at Rosario Beach Marine Lab.

The field season has begun-Professors Whittaker and O’Malley took advantage of favorable tides and spring (ish) weather ...
04/25/2026

The field season has begun-Professors Whittaker and O’Malley took advantage of favorable tides and spring (ish) weather to install water quality data loggers at the Mill Creek in Penobscot Maine-the site of a major culvert replacement project where Ocean Studies Environmental Science faculty and students are responsible for monitoring impacts on the marsh for the next several years.

Looksmaxxing? Bio-hacking? It must be the last day of class in Bi102. First year students completed an in class activity...
04/25/2026

Looksmaxxing? Bio-hacking? It must be the last day of class in Bi102. First year students completed an in class activity about the applications of modern molecular biology today. Conservation biology, food systems, commercial applications and intellectual property, and yes DIY self optimization sparked many lively conversations.

Seven intrepid Ocean Studies students showed up at a local fish way on this cold rainy morning to help local fish run ma...
04/16/2026

Seven intrepid Ocean Studies students showed up at a local fish way on this cold rainy morning to help local fish run managers install equipment that helps them count and harvest alewives. Sand bags, lobster trap mesh, plywood and a whole lot of old line did the trick and now Wight’s Pond is ready for the fish to arrive.

Chemical Oceanography lab got out on the R/V Friendship today, using the CTD to understand nutrient dynamics in the Baga...
04/10/2026

Chemical Oceanography lab got out on the R/V Friendship today, using the CTD to understand nutrient dynamics in the Bagaduce River. It was sunny but blustery… Paige and Will win the award for gritting through being exceptionally cold.

Geological Oceanography (OS211) took a break from seismic studies to design, build and deploy ROVs in Bok Pool. The goa...
03/31/2026

Geological Oceanography (OS211) took a break from seismic studies to design, build and deploy ROVs in Bok Pool. The goal was to retrieve The Potato from the bottom. Amber, Ally and Will won for fastest recovery mission!

MMA Ocean Studies students and faculty attended the Maine Sustainability and Water Conference in Augusta, ME on Thursday...
03/27/2026

MMA Ocean Studies students and faculty attended the Maine Sustainability and Water Conference in Augusta, ME on Thursday, March 26th. In a poster session, Jake Allison and Hannah Mellor, CMES majors, authored and presented Saltmarsh Vegetation Survey Preceding Culvert Replacement and Tidal Flow Restoration in Penobscot, Maine. Landon Parks, Marine Bio major, presented her senior research work on Polyethylene Terephthalate Microfiber Uptake in the Marine Sponge Halichondria Panicea. Professor Karen Merritt presented Development of a Rapid, Stable and Inexpensive Monitoring Technique for Porewater Sulfide in the Intertidal Zone, on which Jake Allison is a co-author. Professors Kerry Whittaker and Sarah O’Malley also attended as co-authors and in support of our spectacular students. This was a perfect forum to highlight Ocean Studies research and network with water sustainability scientists and leaders throughout the state!

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Castine, ME
04420

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+12073262395

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