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August 2026
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Educating students and communities about the connections
between the ocean, inland water, and economy of Maine.
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| text! |  | | text! | This has been a whirlwind of a summer! First, we want to thank all of you who could join us for our annual “The Sea, the Future, and Us” gala. We celebrated a record-breaking year of achievements with a stunning sunset at Saltwater Fields amid a sea of generous donors, awesome volunteers, stalwart colleagues, loyal partners, supportive community members, vital sponsors, and inspirational kids. We are so thankful to our community for lifting us up each year. A big thank you to Charlie Cragin for serving as our auctioneer. There’s still time to contribute if you missed the paddle raise or weren’t able to be there. Please go to this link and put paddle raise in the comments if you could not attend and want to contribute.
We also recognized the year’s Phyllis Wyeth Visionary Award winner, Jonathan Labaree, and runner-up, Joshua Stoll. Jonathan Labaree is the Chief Community Officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. He has been an innovative leader in conservation, education, and advancement of Maine's aquatic environment, marine related coastal trades, and the "blue economy" for many decades. Jonathan: "It is such an honor to receive this award and join the ranks of true visionaries who have received it in prior years. That list reads as a who’s-who of people I admire and who embody the spirit and service of Phyllis herself.”
Runner-up winner, Joshua Stoll is an Associate Professor in the School of Marine Sciences at the University of Maine. His research focuses on questions about coastal community resilience, ocean governance, fisheries policy, and food systems. Joshua is the co-founder of the Local Catch Network and has been working to elevate the role of seafood in local and regional food systems for more than a decade.
Three amazing people received “honorable mention” recognition by the judges: Alex Brasili, Programmatic and Research Director at Maine Math and Science Alliance and a former Herring Gut educator; Lia Morris, Senior Community Development Officer with the Island Institute; and Chris Fuert, currently a Coastal Resilience Scientist and recently retired as the Coastal Training Program Director for the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. These people were nominated by their peers and those who benefited from their impactful contributions to the fields of marine science, marine education, aquaculture innovation and organization, fisheries, policy, and conservation.
At the gala we also bid “fair winds and following seas” to departing Board member Maureen Cragin who has served Herring Gut with panache and distinction. Thank you Maureen!
This past fiscal year we have increased the number of students and families we serve by 20%!! Our five dedicated staff provided essential and riveting marine science, art, engineering, math, and environmental stewardship programming to 6500 people in 160 programs throughout 11 counties in Maine. We are making a difference every day in the lives of Maine residents and visitors.
One of my favorite events is coming up next week and there is still time to join us! We will be doing our sunset cruise on Tuesday August 18th from 6-8 pm on the Laura B. This is a relaxing, beautiful trip enjoying the St. George River and Muscongus Bay. Reserve your spot today!
Your summer will not be complete without a tour of our new touch tank and a peak inside the bait shack to see the sardine factory exhibit. We are open 8-4 Monday through Friday and we have started doing animal feeding tours at 9:00 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday through August. There are many spots to sit and enjoy the last rays of summer before Fall responsibilities start. Check out our website each week to see the schedule of fun things to do from the Science under Sail to Aquatots to Tide Pool Treks.
We are booking our fall and winter classes. We tend to book up quickly so please reach out to info@herringgut.org to learn more. Let us know if you wish to sponsor a class or program.
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| It's Not Too Late To
Raise Your Paddle
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Come Aboard Our
Sunset Cruise
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| | | July was incredibly busy at Herring Gut Coastal Science Center! The grand reopening of our aquarium space and bait shack was a swimming success. We broke our record of walk-in touch tank tours with 87 visitors last Friday! (and a total of 574 walk-in visitors for the whole month)! Wow!! Join us on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday mornings at 9 am to try your hand at feeding lobsters, sea stars, fish, and other animals in our aquariums.
The results are in from our calico lobster naming contest: Calico Jack is the winning name! A special shoutout to Ellie S. for coming up with such a cool name for our lobster! Thank you to the Lobster Festival for donating a new yellow-orange lobster to our touch tank! Stop in and say hello to our new friends at our touch tank!
Herring Gut’s Senior Educator, Alaina Zyhowski, and Summer Camp Director, Katie Liberman, both presented a Data Art Workshop at the National Marine Educators Conference in Cambridge, Maryland! Participants learned how to transform scientific data into interpretive art pieces as science communication tools for their classrooms. Alaina and Katie both gleaned a lot of information and materials to enhance school and community program offerings and update the course menu this fall.
"I learned so much here, but my favorite thing was definitely
learning how to tell a male crab and female crab apart!"
-Mariner, Junior Marine Scientist Camper
We wrapped up both weeks of Junior Marine Scientist Camp–participants had the opportunity to travel to Allen Island, sail onboard A Morning In Maine, conduct invasive green crab surveys, dissect green crabs, and learn all about oyster farming at camp. Campers learned about a variety of intertidal animal species and conducted hands-on science at local beaches in St. George.
We also wrapped production on a documentary film project in partnership with Moosey Productions, funded by Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund. Tara Roberts Zabriskie, owner and director of Moosey, teamed with Alaina Zyhowski, HG Senior Educator, to produce a 20-min. documentary about how the town of St. George is responding to coastal flooding and planning for the future, including perspectives from several St. George residents and neighbors, plus local and visiting Jr. Marine Scientist summer campers. They will also create two shorts about green crabs and sea stars. Post-production begins soon. All of the videos will be completed by the end of the year and available on Maine Public Television and shared with schools and libraries. Stay tuned!
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HERRING GUT COASTAL SCIENCE CENTER IS A
501 (c) (3) MAINE PUBLIC CHARITY
#92-0902723
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