Professor of Marine Ecology Brian Beal has been a leader of marine research throughout the state of Maine and the 91±¬ΑΟ community for over 30 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up in Jonesport, Beal developed a deep connection with the sea that has fueled a lifelong interest in marine science. In the mid-1980s as local fishermen in Washington county became concerned about a decrease in soft-shell clam harvests, Beal worked together with the group to learn how to spawn clams, raise larvae, and grow them into seed clams that can be planted in mudflats. In 1987 the joint venture became Maine\u2019s first public shellfish hatchery, formally called the Beals Island Regional Shellfish Hatchery, which evolved in the early 2000s to become the Downeast Institute<\/a> (DEI), where Beal currently serves as the director of research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The institute serves as the 91±¬ΑΟ at Machias Marine Science Field Station and local experiential classroom, where students can develop their own research projects or become engaged in existing research. It is the easternmost marine research laboratory and education center in the country and houses a commercial-scale marine research hatchery, running seawater labs, and educational classroom and housing facilities that are available to researchers. The facility cultures commercially important shellfish seed, restoring and creating economic opportunities for harvesters, aquaculturists and other entrepreneurs throughout coastal Maine and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beal has cultured most of Maine\u2019s commercial marine shellfish species, examining their growth and survival under field conditions in a variety of nearshore habitats. He says that one of the most exciting parts of his research is when he is able to deconstruct a field experiment to collect data that has been accumulating for months at a time. \u201cThe experiment is designed to produce an answer, and typically does, that will help me and others better understand what happened or what is happening in a particular marine ecosystem,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is exciting to understand the mechanisms that are in play that tend to regulate natural populations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n A year before he created the clam hatchery that would become DEI, he helped establish Maine\u2019s first lobster hatchery in the town of Cutler. In 2000-2001 Beal was a Fulbright scholar at the National University of Ireland, Galway where he worked with local fishermen and researchers to develop new economic opportunities through shellfish mariculture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2019, Beal was named one of Maine Magazine\u2019s \u201c50 Mainers\u201d creating a brighter future for the state for his \u201cpivotal role in enhancing Maine\u2019s marine economy since the 1980s.\u201d He has not only dedicated his life to his community but has also trained the next generation of researchers to sustain and enhance Maine\u2019s marine ecosystems, a vital part of the state\u2019s blue economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contact: research@maine.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Professor of Marine Ecology Brian Beal has been a leader of marine research throughout the state of Maine and the 91±¬ΑΟ community for over 30 years. Growing up in Jonesport, Beal developed a deep connection with the sea that has fueled a lifelong interest in marine science. In the mid-1980s as local fishermen 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Professor of Marine Ecology Brian Beal has been a leader of marine research throughout the state of Maine and the 91±¬ΑΟ community for over 30 years. Growing up in Jonesport, Beal developed a deep connection with the sea that has fueled a lifelong interest in marine science. In the mid-1980s as local fishermen in Washington county became concerned about a decrease in soft-shell clam harvests, Beal worked together with the group to learn how to spawn clams, raise larvae, and grow them into seed clams that can be planted in mudflats. In 1987 the joint venture became Maine\u2019s…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Faculty Spotlight<\/a>, MARINE<\/a>, Program Highlight<\/a>, Research News<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"","url":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/author\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":572,"label":"Faculty Spotlight"},{"value":624,"label":"MARINE"},{"value":573,"label":"Program Highlight"},{"value":65,"label":"Research News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2023\/01\/brianseeding-1-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/author\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":572,"name":"Faculty Spotlight","slug":"faculty-spotlight","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":572,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":36,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":572,"category_count":36,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Faculty Spotlight","category_nicename":"faculty-spotlight","category_parent":0},{"term_id":624,"name":"MARINE","slug":"marine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":624,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":624,"category_count":14,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MARINE","category_nicename":"marine","category_parent":0},{"term_id":573,"name":"Program Highlight","slug":"program-highlight","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":573,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":41,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":573,"category_count":41,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Program Highlight","category_nicename":"program-highlight","category_parent":0},{"term_id":65,"name":"Research News","slug":"research-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":65,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":226,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":65,"category_count":226,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Research News","category_nicename":"research-news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/478"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47571"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47597,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47571\/revisions\/47597"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}