Recent News

2016 Atlantic Miniboat Regatta with a nearly 5-foot unmanned sailboat equipped with GPS to track its voyage to Europe by way of the ocean currents.

The regatta is organized by Educational Passages, a Belfast, Maine-based program that teaches school-age children about ocean sciences. Since 2008, the program has worked with university partners and others to help elementary, middle and high schools sponsor and launch more than 50 small boats in Maine and across the globe.

Schools, colleges and organizations from as many as eight countries are scheduled to take part in this fall’s regatta. The goal of the event is to have as many of the little boats as possible circle the entire North Atlantic Ocean. Onboard GPS tracking will allow Marine Sciences Club members and other regatta participants to figure out when their vessels are close to making landfall. The minisailboats are expected to make multiple stops on their voyages around the North Atlantic. All of them will carry instructions, asking those who find the boats to take them to nearby schools. Regatta participants will then work with their new school partners to relaunch the boats.

“We want to raise awareness about ocean currents and try to educate people, especially young children, about the ocean,” says sophomore Emily Tarr, a UMaine marine sciences major and club member.

For all its sophistication, the UMaine miniboat looks simple on the outside, a slightly larger version of the kind a toddler might play with in the bathtub. The nearly 5-foot hull is white with a red stripe around the base. A diamond-shaped, white sail with a red border stands upright at the end of the bow.

The Marine Sciences Club is partnering with the Maine Coastal Program on the project. Both are working with Educational Passages to get local elementary, middle and high schools to participate. Students will be able to follow the UMaine minivessel’s progress via the Educational Passages website.

Members of the Marine Sciences Club will test the seaworthiness of the small sailboat in the Alfond W2 Ocean Engineering lab in the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center. It will then be transported to Portland. There, a member of the Portland Fish Exchange’s fishing fleet will take the minivessel out beyond the Gulf of Maine and launch it into the open ocean.

The miniboat is expected to follow the currents in the North Atlantic Gyre and, if all goes well, reach Europe in a few months. Along the way, its GPS will send pings back to club members twice a day. It will also collect wave, wind and other data that students will be able to study. It’s the same kind of data that Argo floats provide in real time, on the internet, as they bob along at different depths in oceans across the globe.

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This summer, Olivia Conrad, a fourth-year student from Yarmouth, Maine, majoring in food science and human nutrition, landed a sweet internship at one of Maine’s premier gelato companies.

Conrad was the food safety intern at the Gelato Fiasco Flavor Foundry in Brunswick, Maine, where pints are produced, packed and shipped nationwide.

She assisted the company in developing documentation for food inspectors and food quality/safety auditors. Conrad also helped the company prepare for the implementation of the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA), which all food producers must be in compliance with over the next few years.

Not all of Conrad’s days were in the office. In the kitchen, she assisted with product packaging, learning about the machinery and equipment used to run a growing food production operation. She also helped with employee training on best practices in hygiene and food safety.

Gelato Fiasco prides itself in embracing its Maine heritage. It uses locally sourced whole milk from Maine farms, as well as some of the state’s iconic seasonal ingredients, including blueberries, strawberries and maple syrup. Other flavors, like Maine Potato Donut and Red Flannel Whoopie Pie, are inspired by the state’s culture and identity.

Interning for a growing Maine company elevated Conrad’s own sense of pride for her home state and its small business market.

“It was fun for me to work for a company that originated in Maine and continues to grow and succeed in the business world — even outside of Maine,” says Conrad.

Jason Bolton, associate Extension professor and food safety specialist for University of Maine Cooperative Extension, helped line up Conrad’s internship. He works closely with food and beverage companies in Maine’s 16 counties, focusing on food safety, quality and facility design.

When he noticed most UMaine food science students completing their internships out of state, Bolton developed a program to help place students at internships in Maine companies.

“Interns are very beneficial to the smaller, fast-growing food businesses of Maine,” says Bolton. “Our students are gaining lots of important skills and they are doing it in Maine.”

The goal is for these internships to lead to employment opportunities in Maine, says Bolton, who has worked with Gelato Fiasco on its recent expansion design as well as with food safety protocols.

UMaine students offer an invaluable set of services and skills to the food businesses of Maine who may not have the resources available to acquire them through other means, Bolton said.

Conrad regards her internship as a rewarding and valuable experience. She credits it with helping her develop self-confidence in the workplace, as well as in her chosen career path.

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