Maine Maritime Academy > Corning School of Ocean Studies > Faculty / Staff > Jessica Muhlin

Faculty / Staff

Jessica Muhlin picture

Jessica Muhlin

Department: Ocean Studies
Title(s):

· Department Chair Ocean Science

Phone: 207-326-2403
Email: jessica.muhlin@mma.edu
Office: 206 Dirigo House
Office Hours: [Please email me and we can find a convenient time to connect in person, via Zoom, or over the phone. ]

Bio

Jessica Muhlin is Professor of Marine Biology in the Corning School of Ocean Studies. She was appointed to Maine Maritime Academy's faculty in 2007.

Jessica received her Ph.D. from the University of Maine and her B.A. from Boston University. Her research interests focus on the reproductive ecology, population genetics and food web ecology of fucoid seaweeds in the northwestern Atlantic. Jessica is also actively involved in art-science collaborations using marine algae as inspiration.

Jessica's recently funded scholarship includes the development of a spectral library for seaweeds in the intertidal ecosystem and understanding how nearshore marine communities respond to rockweed harvest.

Ph.D., Marine Biology, University of Maine
B.A., Biology (concentration in marine sciences, cum laude), Boston University

Block Schedule:

Thank you for checking out Ocean Studies! I think we have a pretty special community of ocean scientists who are passionate about teaching and learning.

I am an intertidal ecologist who loves marine macroalgae. Truth be told, I love all algae! I enjoy cooking with seaweed, making art with seaweed, and sharing information with as many people as I can to understand and appreciate the algae.

My research interests include the reproductive ecology of fucoid algae (=rockweeds), nearshore food web dynamics, citizen science and art-science collaborations.

I am involved in a number of scholarship activities. They include:

Present

Currently writing with Professor Sarah O’Malley, Hannah Robbins from Maine Sea Grant, Les Watling from University of Hawaii, and Elliot Johnston from UMaine a second edition of Life Between the Tides, a natural history guide to organisms in the nearshore environment.

Spring 2019 – Present

Collaboration with Hannah Webber of Schoodic Institute and Stefan Claesson of Nearview, LLC. We have funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) SBIR Phase II and the Maine Community Foundation donor-advised fund to develop a spectral library for nearshore seaweeds and develop methodologies to assess biomass using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS, drones).

Winter 2016 – Present

Collaboration with Brian Olsen and Amanda Klemmer of UMaine and Hannah Webber of Schoodic Institute. We had a funded Maine Sea Grant project (CRASSH) that is investigating the influence of rockweed harvest on the trophic connectivity within the marine intertidal nearshore environment as well as Rockweed architecture. To learn more of this project, check our website.

January, 2011 – Present

Partners with Maine SeaGrant and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension in their Signs of the Seasons: A Maine Phenology Program to include the rockweed, Ascophyllum nodosum as an indicator species. Some of my scholarship has involved documenting the seasonality of reproduction and assessing age and growth rate of individual A. nodosum plants in coastal Maine.