Bigelow Labs hosts open house
Lucy and Henry Olson watch as a Bigelow intern extracts the DNA of a salmon into a sample vial. They will take the sample home to look at under their own microscope. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Intern Ally Fulton demonstrates how to fill up a sample bottle after collecting water with the Nansen bottle on the dock. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Research Associate Emily Donham shows Matthew Rochford of the Boothbay Sea and Science Center all the little organisms he caught using the plankton tow. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Dana Wilson, donor relations and campaign manager, guides a tour around the facility. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Senior Research Scientist Paty Matrai talks about traveling to the polar regions to do her research on climate change during a tour. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Postdoctoral Researcher Jessica LaBonte talks about researching viruses that exists in the ocean, including traveling down an over three-mile deep gold mine located in South Africa to collect water samples from deep within the earth. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Abe Catz views plankton through a microscope at Bigelow's shore facility. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Beck Welling, 7, of New Gloucester holds up his sample vial he gets to take home from Ocean Classroom at Bigelow. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Tyler and Steven Cenci pose at the “mad scientist” photo booth. Tyler wants to be a hydrologist when he's older, while Steven is more interested in working with food. Either as a chef or a farmer, he hasn't decided yet. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Lucy and Henry Olson watch as a Bigelow intern extracts the DNA of a salmon into a sample vial. They will take the sample home to look at under their own microscope. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Intern Ally Fulton demonstrates how to fill up a sample bottle after collecting water with the Nansen bottle on the dock. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Research Associate Emily Donham shows Matthew Rochford of the Boothbay Sea and Science Center all the little organisms he caught using the plankton tow. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Dana Wilson, donor relations and campaign manager, guides a tour around the facility. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Senior Research Scientist Paty Matrai talks about traveling to the polar regions to do her research on climate change during a tour. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Postdoctoral Researcher Jessica LaBonte talks about researching viruses that exists in the ocean, including traveling down an over three-mile deep gold mine located in South Africa to collect water samples from deep within the earth. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Abe Catz views plankton through a microscope at Bigelow's shore facility. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Beck Welling, 7, of New Gloucester holds up his sample vial he gets to take home from Ocean Classroom at Bigelow. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Tyler and Steven Cenci pose at the “mad scientist” photo booth. Tyler wants to be a hydrologist when he's older, while Steven is more interested in working with food. Either as a chef or a farmer, he hasn't decided yet. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Visitors from all over Maine got to explore the world of Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay during its annual open house on Friday, July 31.
“I've always been interested in marine science,” said Judy Davidson of Jacksonville, Florida, who is a summer resident on the Boothbay peninsula. “I go to all the Cafe Scientifiques when I'm in Maine and (I have) always been fascinated by the work being done here.”
Visitors were able to go on various tours and meet scientists, use equipment such as a microscope and FlowCam, and conduct experiments on oyster parasites. The two autonomous gliders used to explore the Gulf of Maine, Henry and Grampus, were on site for viewing, as was the Bigelow Labs supercomputer.
During the whole day the Ocean Classroom was open for kids (and any interested adults) to experiment and learn. Other activities were having fun in the photo booth, walking the trail to the shore facility and reading the “sunlight story” as you went, and learning about basic research equipment at the dock such as a visibility disk, plankton tow and Nansen bottle. Kids took their seawater samples up to the shore facility to view them through microscopes are learn about the microbes they had caught.
“My brother is an intern here, which is mostly why we came,” Abe Catz of Brunswick said. “It's been fun, and I enjoyed the tour.”
Students from the Boothbay Sea and Science Center walked over for a visit, and got to learn more in-depth about the ocean. According to a member of staff, Anna Sirois, the students have some of the equipment that was being used on the Bigelow dock, but much smaller versions.
“They have already been introduced to the concepts, but usually just in theory,” Sirois said. “Here then can learn hands-on with the real equipment.”
