Getting to Know U
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Linda Healy |
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Linda Healy
Darling Marine Center Science Writer and Events Coordinator
Office address: Darling Marine Center, Walpole, Maine
Basic responsibilities: Promoting the Darling Marine
Center; coordinating scientific meetings, conferences and
workshops; providing logistical support for visiting students
and researchers.
Years at UMaine: I’ve been in my current position since
October 1998. However, my history with DMC goes back to the late
1980s when I worked here as a summer intern and then as a
graduate student. I received an M.S. in oceanography from the
University of Maine in 1991.
What should people know about the Darling Marine Center?
The DMC is a great place! Though it may be relatively unknown to
those outside the realm of marine science, DMC is recognized
around the world as home to cutting-edge research in
oceanography and marine biology.
DMC is the marine field station for UMaine. Our resident faculty
and graduate students are part of the School of Marine Sciences
(SMS), but UMaine personnel from other campuses, departments and
institutes also use of our facility. We have state-of-the-art
flowing seawater laboratories and classrooms, research vessels,
scuba facilities, marine science library, dormitory and dining
hall.
The SMS undergraduate Semester by the Sea program is offered at
DMC during fall semester, and each year various May Term and
graduate-level courses are also offered at DMC. Maine Sea Grant
and the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence-Ocean
Systems (COSEE-OS) have offices here. DMC partners with two
local nonprofits, the Gulf of Maine Foundation and OceansWide,
to teach K-12 students about marine science.
One of the most exciting aspects of DMC is that our facilities
are open to students and researchers from outside institutions.
In the past five years, 12,085 people from 44 states and 36
foreign countries have attended a conference, taken a class,
participated in a workshop, or conducted research at DMC.
What's the summer like at the Darling Marine Center?
Without a doubt, summer is our busiest season. We have a
year-round complement of 40-50 faculty, staff and students at
the center. In the summer, those numbers more than double as we
welcome undergraduate interns, graduate students and researchers
for the field season. In addition, the summer season (actually
April through October) is typically when we host scientific
meetings, professional development workshops and field trips for
visiting college groups and local K-12 classes.
Not all the center's summer researchers focus on sea life,
right? Though most of our visitors have a link to the marine
world, we draw a diverse group to our facility. Douglass Morse
is a spider ecologist from Brown University who has been
conducting research on the property since 1993. In May, we
welcomed a group of bryologists from the U.S. and Canada for a
weeklong workshop. They spent the days collecting mosses and
liverworts, and the evenings identifying their samples. Bruce
Segee and colleagues in UMaine’s Electrical and Computer
Engineering Department will hold their second ITEST meeting at
DMC in August. Geologists, historians, educators, state planners
and local land trusts also make use of our laboratories,
classrooms and conference center.
What's the biggest event you've ever organized at the center?
Most of the scientific meetings held at the Darling Marine
Center have 20-40 participants. That’s a comfortable number of
people for a multi-day event in our facility. In August 2007, we
hosted the International Polychaete Conference with 196
participants from around the world. The five-day event was held
at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland. An optional overnight
field trip to DMC brought about 40 researchers to the lab to
sample our local fauna and experience the Center.
Most-asked question you get from the youngest Darling Marine
Center visitors when you're giving a tour? “Can I touch it?”
How long have you been in charge of Making Waves, the
center's 12-page annual newsletter, and how has it evolved
through the years? Making Waves was originally a Sea Grant
publication that ended around 1990. With permission, DMC took
the title for its own newsletter in 1991. The 1998 edition of
Making Waves was my first stab at the publication. In each issue
I feature the people, programs and research at the lab. I try to
show how multifaceted marine science is and how our activities
span local and global interests. We now print 2,300 copies for
distribution to the ever-growing DMC fan club. Making Waves is
also available in PDF format on the DMC Web site.
How did you get your start in science writing? I just
fell into it. When I applied for the job, then an administrative
assistant position, I wasn’t sure where it would take me, or if
it would hold my attention. I had interests and experience in
science, computer graphics, advertising and event planning.
Within a year, my job description was rewritten and I became a
“science writer.”
Most rewarding part of your job? I enjoy the creative
aspects of my job, as well as the variability. I like being
surrounded by science, but I also enjoy the computer graphics —
making text and pictures fit together on a page in a visually
attractive and readable way. I like pulling together the
logistics for various events; working in the background to make
sure everything runs without a hitch.
What's your favorite sea creature? I really like sea
scallops sautéed in butter with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
Who are your heroes/inspirations? Mother Nature is pretty
cool. She’s intricate, challenging, sexy, colorful and
resilient.
The place at the Darling Center I spend most of my time when
not in my office is: Outside. On particularly nice days, I
take advantage of being the staff photographer and stow away on
the research vessel or tag along on a fieldtrip to the tide
pools.
Describe your perfect day. For me, a perfect day would
include any or all of the following activities: hiking,
canoeing, gardening, weaving, baking, cooking and eating!
