Downeast Institute Staff
Research
Downeast Institute (DEI) is the eastern-most marine research laboratory and education center in the us. The marine laboratory serves the research interests of scientists and entrepreneurs who are interested in learning about and understanding the relationships between marine organisms and their environment.
Dr. Brian Beal
Director of Research
Dr. Phil Yund
Senior Scientist
Rob Holmberg
Postdoctoral Associate
Marine Research Hatchery
DEI is the state’s first — and only — public shellfish hatchery. DEI specializes in raising juvenile shellfish for fisheries stock enhancement and for research purposes. To do so, we also produce food for the shellfish through our stock microalgal (phytoplankton) culture system and mass algal growout system.
Kyle Pepperman
Manager, Center for Shellfish Production and Research
Jeff Robinson
Facilities Manager
Bennett Ellis
Aquaculture Production Technician
Breanna Salter
Production Assistant
Education
DEI’s Education Program has been providing experiential marine science and applied math education to pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students since 2011. We assist students and their teachers in understanding the scientific process through project-based experiences in intertidal and rocky shoreline ecology. Our “Let’s Find Out” approach fuels students’ natural curiosity and demonstrates repeatable methods that can be used in any investigative setting.
Administration and Support
We look forward to continuing to work with community members and fishermen to help fisheries adapt to climate change, develop new business opportunities, and educating future and current generations about using the scientific method to evaluate and acquire information about the marine resources we depend on.
