Greetings from Appledore Island! I am thrilled to announce that the Shoals Marine Lab is open for the 2024 season, which is our 59th. The last month has been extremely busy for the Lab. Our full-time staff prepared to welcome and onboard our seasonal staff. Ross, Zach, Roger, Rocket, and Jim were the open-upcrew that prepared the island for our staff’s arrival (electricity and water are truly appreciated). Zach, Steve, Roger, and Jenna got our main dock in the water and the brow attached. The seasonal staff joined the team over a couple of weeks, and two weeks ago we began our formal orientation and training sessions. Two days of wilderness first aid training is a great way toprepare for work on a remote island and also to learn as a team, get to know each other, trust each other, and really bond. On Thursday, May 9, we moved out to Appledore, continued training, and began preparing to welcome others to the island.
We have just completed our spring volunteer weekend. For the last three days, the staff team and a group of 43 hard-working and committed volunteers helped prepare our dorms, laboratories, classrooms, waterfront, gardens, grounds, support structures and buildings, kitchen, and store for our season. We worked hard, ate well, and laughed a lot. The Kiggins Commons provided a great venue to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Some of our volunteers were on Appledore for the first time, but most had been here many times before, including several who started volunteering with the Lab in the 1970s. The paths that brought people to Appledore varied widely, although the love of the island and dedication to the Lab radiated from them all.
Two weeks ago, during a break in our first aid training, I received the letter formally appointing me as the John M. Kingsbury Executive Director of the Shoals Marine Lab. I couldn’t be prouder of that title, and I also recognize the responsibility it brings to steward this island and lab into the future. This weekend demonstrated what an incredible team we have on our staff and what a strong community is supporting us to effect our mission. While some things have changed on Appledore and at the Shoals Marine Lab since I first arrived in 1990, our commitments to educating students, contributing to our knowledge of the marine environment, enhancing sustainable lifestyles, and building community remain key to all of our work.
We know that Appledore is a magical place, and the Shoals Marine Lab’s immersive, experiential educational opportunities are transformative. The island and Lab are now ready to engage the next cohort of Shoalers and to see them make connections to this amazing island lab and to each other. Here’s to a fabulous 2024 season!
SML students at the UNH Undergraduate Research Conference
Every year, SML alums present their research at various conferences - and many are undergraduates who are presenting in this format for the first time. Conferences are the bread and butter of sharing scientific research with peers and colleagues, and SML is very proud to help these students reach this milestone in their careers!
Bette Kupferberg (UNH class of 2025 and SML alum from 2023) presented independent research at the UNH COLSA Undergraduate Research Conference. Her research, mentored by Liz (Director of Seabird Research) and UNH grad student Aliya Caldwell explored the potential effects of GPS tagging on the parental behavior of terns. Congrats to Bette on her first scientific poster session!
It's that time of year! Open up begins…
Our staff has been hard at work training and getting the facilities on Appledore ready to meet students and visitors for the 2024 season. From repairs to maintenance to wilderness first aid, make sure to thank our wonderful staff for all of their hard work next time you're out on island! Check out the pictures below to learn more about what the opening up process looks like:
Photo by Roger Trudeau Photos by Rod Getchell
Photos by Steve Picken Photo by Matt Norwood
Top row from left to right:
Getting the dock in featuring Program Coordinator Jenna!
Bringing equipment and supplies from the mainland around the island using the tractor
Opening up the kitchen - cleaning, washing dishes, inventorying
Bottom row from left to right:
Repairing wooden walkways by hand
Prepping boats and buoys for the field season
New staff members completing their wilderness first aid training
Check out this National Geographic Article from Brian Skerry!
Many New Englanders know - the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than the rest of the world's oceans. What does this mean for the ecosystems in our local waters? Much of the research done at SML is related to questions about changing climate, including work led by our Director of Seabird Research, Dr. Liz Craig, studying the diets of terns. Brian Skerry, a National Geographic photographer and speaker during last summer's Rock Talk Series on Appledore, highlighted this work among that of other marine scientists in a recent article with Nat Geo. To learn more about how climate change is affecting the Gulf of Maine, read the article below:
Photo by Jim Coyer
Did you know there are live feed webcams on Appledore?
On our Shoals Marine Lab website we have three live-feed webcam feeds! You can stay in touch with the island from wherever you are and watch the island come alive in this early season time. Read more and find the link to our website below:
The first feed (Appledore Island Live) moves around the island, zooming in and out to give you a glimpse of Appledore.
The second feed (Appledore Remote Tower) is currently pointed at the egret colony on the north end of the island - and the great egrets are in nest building season right now!
The third feed (Appledore Gulls and Waves) is pointed at one of the rocky shores, giving you a glimpse of the gull colonies.
This past weekend, 43 volunteers came to Appledore and officially opened up the island! From gardening to painting, cleaning to mending, they did it all in an effort to help get the island up and running for the 2024 season. Thank you volunteers for all of your hard work and dedication! Shoals Marine Lab would not be as special as it is without our wonderful community. Looking forward to undergraduate classes starting next week!
Rock Talks Return!
SML's Rock Talk Seminar series is back! The long-standing lecture series, whose name originates from the rocks students used to sit on while listening, is a fantastic opportunity for amazing scientists to share their work with on-island and virtual guests. This year, the speakers lined up all have a special connection to Appledore. Get ready for our first guest, SML's own Dr. Liz Craig, as she talks about how observing seabirds can help us understand the changing world around us. Sound interesting? Please join us on Zoom, Tuesday May 28th at 8:00 pm! And the week after, Dave Bonter will be joining us to talk about the inspiring undergraduate research that happens at Shoals Marine Lab. Learn more by clicking on the button above or checking out our website under the “Programs” tab. See you there!
