Friday, March 27, 2026
Star Theatre, 120 Rogers Road, Kittery, ME 03903

Who should attend: educators, scientists, students and ocean enthusiasts! The symposium is open to the public; all are welcome!

Registration for the 2026 event will be posted soon. Sign up using the form below to receive a notification when registration goes live!

2025 Symposium Agenda

10:10-10:30 Plastic Innovation in Maine
Alexa McGovern – Founder, Dirigo Sea Farm
Dirigo Sea Farm is a woman-founded materials company using Maine kelp to produce bioplastic films to replace single-use and non-biodegradable plastic.

10:30-10:50 Center for Sustainable Seafood Systems: Updates on research and aquaculture
Mike Doherty, Research Project Manager for UNH CSSS, and NH Sea Grant, focusing on aquaculture applied to Gulf of Maine species.

10:50-11:10 Waves of Knowledge: Harnessing Ocean Data for Outreach and Education
Katy Bland, Engagement & Research Manager at the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS)

11:10-11:30 Talking Trash: Marine Debris Results and Action
Jen Kennedy, Executive Director, Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation

11:30-11:50 Protecting New England’s Extraordinary and Vulnerable Marine Wildlife and Habitats: CLF’s work to conserve and protect the extraordinary and vulnerable marine wildlife and habitats in the face of our dual biodiversity and climate crises with a focus on CLF’s nomination to designate the Cashes Ledge Area as a National Marine Sanctuary
Chloe Fross, Staff Attorney, Ocean Conservation team, Conservation Law Foundation
Jen Felt, Ocean Campaign Director, Conservation Law Foundation

1:00-1:20 Ecology with our eyes shut: using bioacoustics to study Gulf of Maine pinnipeds
Dr. Michelle Fournet, Assistant Professor, Marine Bioacoustics, UNH

1:20-1:40 Gray seal (Halichoerus grypus) acoustic behavior at three sites in the Northwest Atlantic Jess Veo, PhD Candidate, UNH

1:40-2:00 Breaching New Heights: Using drones to collect non-invasive health data on North Atlantic Right Whales Amy Warren, Operational Lead of the North Atlantic Right Whale Catalog and drone pilot for the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium

2:00-2:20 Unlocking the secret lives of whales with baleen analysis
Dr. Nadine Lysiak, Research Scientist, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium

2:55-3:15 Short-term Climate Impacts on Gulf of Maine Cetaceans
Nathalie Pare, UNH Senior, BOS Intern 2024

3:15-3:30 Calvin, The Female Right Whale: The story of a 30 year old right whale, the threats she faces, and the solutions for her species to survive.
The Calvineers are a group of 7th and 8th graders from Adams School in Castine, Maine. They have been advocating for the recovery of the North Atlantic Right Whale from possible extinction for 20 years. The Calvineers visit schools and conferences giving their 40 minute PowerPoint about the plight of right whales and the solutions for their recovery. Right whales’ biggest threats are entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes that, combined, kill and injure many right whales each year. There are viable solutions for these threats but they require political policy reforms. The Calvineers tell the story of a right whale named Calvin who has seen her mother killed by a ship strike, been entangled herself multiple times and still managed to give birth to four calves. There is hope. That is the message from the Calvineers.

2026 Blue Ocean Symposium