Assistant Prof. McClenachan Awarded Grant To Study Social Impacts of Climate Change on Fisheries

Assistant Professor Loren McClenachan was recently awarded a grant from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study the social impacts of climate change in fisheries along the US East Coast. Warming temperatures are of particular concern in the Gulf of Maine, with predicted environmental and social impacts on coastal communities. This interdisciplinary, collaborative grant of $298,950 will be led by Dr. Steven Scyphers of Northeastern University and involve researchers at the USGS, the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the non-profit citizen science group, Reef.org. Colby College students will have the opportunity to participate in this research this fall; senior Environmental Studies majors will investigate past, current, and future impacts of climate change on fisheries in the Gulf of Maine as part of their capstone research class. As part of this project, Dr. Scyphers will visit Colby and present a research seminar on “Crowded coastlines as coupled social-ecological systems” on Tuesday September 15 at 7pm in Olin 1.