Research

Downeast Institute welcomes scientists and others who are interested in researching marine organisms and their environment. For over 30 years, our applied research has focused on commercially important shellfish.

Downeast Institute (DEI) integrates the observations of fishermen, aquaculturists, and others into framing research questions, creating hypotheses, and informing study plans.  We design quantitative experiments, set in the field or the lab, with a focus on obtaining meaningful results (i.e. proving or disproving a hypothesis through statistical analysis). We then work with these community members to deploy and conduct research, process data, and disseminate results.  

DEI’s cooperative approach incorporates local environmental and technical fisheries knowledge, along with our standards for scientific rigor, into experimental design and data collection. This approach allows DEI scientists to attain reliable, accurate results, ensuring our findings can be used with confidence by fishermen, fishery managers, communities, state agencies, and others. 

We welcome visiting scientists for short term research projects and sabbaticals. We also accept proposals from researchers for longer-term collaborations. 

Learn more about the research from our marine laboratory by choosing a species below: