{"id":17439,"date":"2019-03-21T11:09:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-21T15:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/?p=17439"},"modified":"2019-03-21T11:18:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T15:18:26","slug":"drifting-with-the-tides-a-new-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/2019\/03\/21\/drifting-with-the-tides-a-new-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"Drifting with the Tides: A New Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Master\u2019s student Gabrielle \u201cGabby\u201d Hillyer, a dual-degree oceanography and marine policy major, has spent the last three years conducting research on the Medomak River in Waldoboro, Maine taking measure of the tides<\/a> using small \u201cbucket drifters\u201d packed with scientific instruments.<\/p>\n

The research is aimed at better understanding the dynamics of the estuary\u2019s ability to flush out harmful bacteria that, in the wake of rainstorms of more than an inch, close clam flats for a mandatory nine-day period per state regulations. In such cases, most of the Medomak is off limits to the 175 licensed shellfish harvesters, which can cause economic hardship for extended periods of time.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the project Hillyer has worked closely with commercial clammer Glen Melvin, who is also vice-chair of the Waldoboro Shellfish Committee and sits on the Maine Shellfish Advisory Council.<\/p>\n

\"Gabby
Diana Davis Spencer Scholar Gabby Hillyer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As her drifter work winds down, Hillyer is preparing to defend her Master\u2019s thesis. She is also drafting reports for the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR), the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and the Medomak Task Force.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy examining tidal trends more thoroughly, we can better understand how pollution closures work and how clammers might be affected by them,\u201d Hillyer says.<\/p>\n

She notes that the drifter work has already shifted ideas of what she, Melvin and others thought they\u2019d find in the estuary. For example, \u201cWe learned that wind is an important factor that transports bacteria into clam flats, particularly during slack tides. And that has a lot of ramifications for how the DMR manages the closures due to pollution,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Further, Hillyer says, the work has demonstrated how small, \u201ceasy\u201d projects can have a lot of impact. \u201cThese drifters are not very expensive and you don\u2019t have to be super tech savvy to use them. And it also has given the community, the stakeholders, a tool to really understand how pollution can be concentrated in certain areas in the estuary due to how the water circulates in different places.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Hillyer\u2019s work with the drifters is winding down, she says another follow-on project with colleagues in and beyond the Mitchell Center will take the work further using acoustic doppler technology to examine tidal currents more precisely. Lauren Ross<\/a>, along with Mitchell Center members Sean Smith<\/a>, Bridie McGreavy<\/a>, Samuel Roy<\/a> and Hillyer, will be deploying Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers in the Medomak. \u201cThis technology, together with a more advanced hydrodynamic model, will give us a much more accurate picture of water movement than my drifters were able to provide,\u201d Hillyer says.<\/p>\n

As a measure of just how valued Hillyer\u2019s work has been viewed by the stakeholders in Waldoboro, they have asked her to participate in a different project on the Medomak that involves seeding recently opened clam flats with larval clams. 91¸£Àû 360 acres of clam flats have been reopened as pollution has been slowly mitigated, which has allowed the clamming community to shift their focus to increasing the clam population.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was asked to help them with different seeding projects, and it\u2019s exciting to be invited to stick around,\u201d says Hillyer<\/p>\n

Glen Melvin notes, \u201cGabby\u2019s drifter model results will be used in the future by the Medomak project to pursue pollution-related issues.\u00a0We look forward to working with her to see if the drifters not only show current flow for pollution, but also the flow of clam seed throughout the river.\u201d Melvin adds,\u00a0\u201cGabby\u2019s expertise will be used to place the new clam seed beds in strategic locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of \u201csticking around,\u201d Hillyer recently decided to pursue a Ph.D.\u00a0in Ecology and Environmental Sciences\u00a0at 91¸£Àû once she has completed her Master’s degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I move into the Ph.D. program, the drifter project will be the first cornerstone in a larger project for my doctorate degree. The Mitchell Center\u2019s emphasis on creating deep, productive and reciprocal stakeholder relationships will continue to be the foundation for my work in Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014David Sims<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Master\u2019s student Gabrielle \u201cGabby\u201d Hillyer, a dual-degree oceanography and marine policy major, has spent the last three years conducting research on the Medomak River in Waldoboro, Maine taking measure of the tides using small \u201cbucket drifters\u201d packed with scientific instruments. The research is aimed at better understanding the dynamics of the estuary\u2019s ability to flush […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":963,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"3","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","spc_primary_category":0},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/author\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":609,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":609,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/963"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17439"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17443,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17439\/revisions\/17443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}