The Darling Marine Center in Walpole is pleased to welcome Dr. Jeremy Rich, the newest faculty member of the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences.

Rich is a marine microbiologist with a special interest in the global nitrogen cycle.

He is interested in nitrogen, as it is the limiting nutrient to plant growth in almost any ecosystem, on land or in the ocean, and a key nutrient in fertilizer. To feed humanity, people have more than doubled the amount of nitrogen added to ecosystems every year, setting up a global scale experiment. Although crops consume much of this nitrogen, a considerable about enters waterways where it can stimulate excessive algal growth, degrading water quality.

Besides people, the other major players in the nitrogen cycle are microbes. Rich is studying how microbes control the delicate balance of nitrogen in ecosystems. This is important to know in order to properly manage natural resources.

Rich’s research will be of interest to residents of Lincoln County concerned about the water quality of the Damariscotta River. He will study how the microbes in the river, both in the sediments and in the water column, influence how much nitrogen is available in the river and how it affects the overall function of the ecosystem.

“We are delighted to welcome Prof. Rich to the Darling Center. His passion for understanding the role of bacteria and other microbes in ecosystem response to changing environmental conditions builds on a strong and important tradition within the Center,” noted Heather Leslie, Director of the DMC.

Rich is no stranger to the Damariscotta area. He studied at the DMC in the mid 1990s, receiving his master’s degree from the University of Maine. “It’s great to re-connect with people at the DMC who have thrived here during the 17 years that I was away,” says Rich.

During those intervening years Rich received his Ph.D. from Oregon State University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University and held a faculty position at Brown University.

Excited to be back in Maine and back at the DMC, Rich is keen to take advantage of the “ideal natural laboratory at our doorstep” and the unique opportunities to study nitrogen in our local marine ecosystems. He’s also eager to engage in local citizen science projects occurring in Lincoln County. In addition to conducting research, Rich will teach undergraduate and graduate courses at the DMC and in Orono.