Meredith White, Head of Research and Development at Mook Sea Farm, will speak at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center on Friday, October 12 at 11am.

White’s talk, “Aquaculture in changing waters: How an oyster farm leverages science to prepare for environmental change” will focus on how Mook Sea Farm, just two miles north of the DMC on the Damariscotta River Estuary, has stepped up its research program to be more resilient in the face of ocean acidification and other climate change impacts. 

White received her PhD in biological oceanography from the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Joint Program where her research focused on the impacts of ocean acidification on larval bay scallops.

Hired by company founder Bill Mook in 2016, White’s charge is to develop and support research that advances the company’s sustainability and vitality as well as research that is relevant to the health of the industry and the seascape more broadly.  

“While this is the first time that R&D has an official position at Mook Sea Farm, innovation has been in the DNA of this company since its founding in 1985,” White noted.

Mook Sea Farm grows American oysters (Crassotsrea virginica) from eggs to adults. Their hatchery produces 80 to 100 million juvenile oysters (seed) annually for sale to other oyster growers throughout the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. They also cultivate Wiley Point and Pemaquid Point oysters for the half-shell market.

White and others at Mook Sea Farm actively collaborate with the scientists and students at the Darling Marine Center. The Center’s business incubation program, together with Maine Sea Grant and Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center, has helped to support innovation at Mook Sea Farm and other aquaculture companies throughout Maine for decades. 

The DMC is located at 193 Clarks Cove Road in Walpole. The talk will take place in Brooke Hall on the lower waterfront campus. For more information or a reasonable accommodation, please contact Linda Healy, 207.563.8220 or lhealy@maine.edu.

Founded in 1965, the Darling Marine Center is the University of Maine marine laboratory. Its mission is to connect people to the ocean. The center’s researchers, staff and students work alongside fishermen, aquaculture entrepreneurs, marine industry professionals and other members of the community in Maine and around the world. More information is available at dmc.umaine.edu.