Sunrise Senior College Online Course Registration

The underwater seaweed (rockweed) forests of Maine support commercial fisheries and wildlife (otters, shorebirds, puffins, eider ducks, etc.). How much do you know about rockweed forests? Rockweed, Ascophyllum nodosum, is a foundational coastal species and an ecosystem engineer. Yet it is also targeted by an industry removing millions of tons of rockweed for agricultural products such as fertilizers and cow feed additives. This sets up a conflict between landowners, who own the rockweed, and the rockweed removal industry.  In this classroom session with our instructor Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley, we will get to know much more about rockweed as she discusses its value in the structure and functioning of the marine food web, including species such as scallops, lobster, cod, alewives, otters and sandpipers. Attendees will also get a good introduction to Maine law affecting rockweed and its commercial harvesting, as well as an outline of the commercial harvest controversy that surrounds it.  

For those who find this session fascinating and wish to learn more, Robin is offering us a second session – an early morning field trip to Pembroke’s Reversing Falls Town Park - to see firsthand the undisturbed rockweed forest there, with “trees” over 4 feet long, at low tide. You may also see some of the different species covered in the lecture session, as well as seals playing just off the shore. This walk involves a very short walk from a nearby parking lot 100 feet from the shore. The surface is a gentle slope to the water, and we will take our time, but rockweed is slippery, and the intertidal area is not considered accessible to those with mobility concerns. This special event will occur this Thursday, Sept. 11th, and the event is limited to just 15 participants. You must sign up for this separately.         

Instructor: Dr. Robin Hadlock Seeley Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Maine Rockweed Coalition and a Certified Senior Ecologist (certified by the Ecological Society of America). She is a retired Senior Research Associate, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, and an 8th generation Mainer and Bowdoin College graduate. She lives in Pembroke, Maine.

Class Information: This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom with the instructor in person at UM@M.

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                   IMPORTANT:  See Below

“Sunrise Senior College does not endorse any appeal or representation made by a presenter, non-profit organization or business during an SSC presentation.  SSC members attending the presentations may wish to pursue additional involvement with the organization or presenter based on the material that was presented and in doing so, they are acting on their own and not as part of SSC.”

This class is available to all current Maine Senior College (MSCN) Members. The general public not wishing to join Sunrise Senior College at this time may attend this class for a $15.00 fee.

Important: If at this time you are not a current member of Sunrise Senior College (SSC) but are planning to join as a member today, make sure you answer that “Your SSC membership is current” when checking out so that we can properly bill you for this class.

Sunrise Senior College (SSC) is a membership-based organization. Our SSC members receive special benefits as current members when they register for this course. Any member of another MSCN college is also able to enjoy this course, but may incur some additional charges. If you are a member of the general public, you can take this course but will have to pay additional fees associated with being a non-member. For any attendee that is not a current member of Sunrise Senior College, any materials required for the course are your responsibility. When checking out, please carefully read and answer the questions asked associated with this specific course so that you are charged appropriately for this class. Failure to do this may result in your being cancelled from the course. We hope you enjoy this offering.