Doors open at 6pm for pre-show reception.

Lobster is Maine’s signature seafood and the lifeblood of its marine economy. It also faces an uncertain future in the face of climate change. Commercial lobstering has been shifting north for years as more southerly lobster populations dwindled, and recent research has revealed that the number of lobsters surviving their first month in Maine waters is decreasing.

Dr. David Fields is a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences who is helping to understand the current changes and what they mean for the future. He’s particularly focused on the vulnerable young lobsters in their first month of life to understand how rising temperatures, acidifying seawater, and changing food webs may be shaping the future of Maine’s iconic fishery.

Join Dr. Fields as he shares stories of his current research and findings, and then answers questions from the audience.

Dr. David Fields, Senior Research Scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, is a zooplankton ecologist. He studies the role that tiny multicellular organisms play in transferring organic matter through the ocean food web. This work includes research into the effects of acidification and warming on lobster larvae, and the effects of microplastics on copepods—the primary food source for endangered North Atlantic right whales. He directs the Laboratory’s competitive NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates summer internship program and co-directs our Maine high school junior and science teacher programs. In 2019, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography—the preeminent membership organization for our research field—honored Dr. Fields with the Ramón Margalef Award for Excellence in Education, honoring excellence in teaching and mentoring in the fields of limnology and oceanography. A resident of Newcastle, Maine, Dr. Fields received his doctorate in Coastal Oceanography from SUNY Stony Brook.