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Dr. Beal is a professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias (UMM). His position at UMM is divided equally between teaching and research, and includes his work at DEI. In addition, Dr. Beal directs UMM’s Marine Field Station at Black Duck Cove.
A native of Jonesport, Maine, Dr. Beal graduated from UMM in 1979 with a B.S. degree in Biology and went on to earn an M.S. degree in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He obtained a Ph.D. in Marine Bio-Resources from the University of Maine at Orono.
Dr. Beal was instrumental in establishing Maine’s first lobster hatchery in the town of Cutler in 1986. He worked with clammers and shellfish committees in six Washington County towns to create Maine’s first public clam hatchery in 1987, known as the Beals Island Regional Shellfish Hatchery. Dr. Beal is known for his work with soft-shell clams throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada. He was a 2000-2001 Fulbright scholar at the National University of Ireland, Galway where he worked with Irish fishermen and researchers on ocean-based nurseries for cultured European lobster (Homarus gammarus) juveniles.
His recent applied research projects include work with sea scallops (Placopecten magellanicus), quahogs (Mercenaria mercenaria), Arctic surf clams (Mactromeris polynyma), blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and the interactions between soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), green crabs (Carcinus maenas), and other predators.
Read Dr. Beal’s CV.