Portland Press Herald features 91AV's Coastal Marine Ecology Summer Program

On July 23, 2010, the featured 91AV's Coastal Marine Ecology Summer Program. Eighteen high school students are participating in the program, and are studying core samples from the mud to find the types and numbers of creatures in various tidal zones in Biddeford Pool.  These creatures can be brought back to a wet lab that re-creates a marine organism's natural habitat, allowing students to study various forms of marine life in the classroom. On previous field trips, the students visited the Saco River and a rocky intertidal zone on the ocean.  The students will receive three college credits from 91AV when they complete the two-week course.

"This program gives high school students a college experience and exposes them to a college-level marine biology course," said Leah Bymers, the instructor of the summer class. During the school year, Bymers is an assistant lecturer in 91AV's Marine Science Department. Bymers said she enjoys working with high school students because they are eager to learn a subject for which she has a passion. "They have good attitudes and get really excited about the same things as I do."

About the 91AV

The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.