Darling Marine Center

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Walpole, ME
Darling Marine Center

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The University of Maine's coastal marine laboratory Resident faculty and students are associated with UMaine's School of Marine Sciences.

The Darling Marine Center is located on the Damariscotta River Estuary in Maine's midcoast region, 100 miles south of the University of Maine's Orono campus. Their research interests range from biogeochemistry, remote sensing and ocean optics to invertebrate taxonomy and ecology, deep-sea biology, phytoplankton physiology and marine archaeology. The Darling Marine Center was founded in 1965 upon the donation of a 127-acre farm by Ira C. Darling, a retired Chicago insurance executive, to the University of Maine with the purpose of establishing a marine laboratory. Today the Center occupies 170 acres of largely wooded property with 2 km. of pristine water frontage on the Damariscotta River estuary. The DMC has a year-round population of about 50 people, including faculty, staff, and students. In the summer our population can swell to over one hundred with undergraduate interns, course participants and visiting scientists.

10/06/2026

Nothing brings a campus community together like some friendly competition! Faculty, staff, students, and researchers all stepped up to the plate for a Wiffle ball tournament at UMaine's Darling Marine Center. 🍂

09/10/2026

Sean Smith, Director of Darling Marine Center was in attendance...

07/31/2026

Our beautiful campus!

07/30/2026

August 2nd - August 8th, we will host the UMaine Course: Sharks 491: Shark Form & Function. This video is getting us in the spirit!

07/29/2026

05/18/2026

Last week we hosted the annual UMaine School of Marine Sciences graduate student symposium!

10/30/2025

Continuing a seasonal tradition, the UMaine Dive Club did some underwater pumpkin carving! This was followed by a night dive.

There are several underwater opportunities at the Darling Marine Center (and in Orono!) offered throughout the year. For more information, visit their website at umaine.edu/scientificdiving/ and be sure to follow them on social media!

Photos courtesy of Colby Johns and Elisabeth Maxwell.

09/08/2025

The Darling Marine Center has a skiff, as well as a number of trailers, up for auction!

Sealed bids only, each item bids separately:
2000 EZ-Loader boat trailer (will fit a 16' boat on bunks)
2004 Load Rite boat trailer (will fit a 16' boat on bunks)
2004 16' Lund skiff with a 2004 hp Johnson 2 stroke outboard and a 2023 Load Rite trailer with rollers.

Email the DMC boat captain at [email protected] for a bid form. The DMC reserves the right to reject bids. Send bids to:

Attn. Darling Marine Center Surplus Auction
193 Clarks Cove Rd
Walpole, ME 04573
Postmark by 9/22/2025
Bids opening 9/26/2025 at 1PM

08/15/2025

Today is the last day at the DMC for our Residential Life & Outreach Coordinator, Sam Annable. Sam will be teaching middle school Health & PE this coming school year!

Join us in thanking Sam for the contributions he's made to this community, which included a massive expansion of K-12 Outreach programming with local schools at the Center. We wish you the best of luck this year, and we know you'll make a great teacher!

07/25/2025

Address

193 Clarks Cove Road
Walpole, ME
04573

Telephone

+12075638144

Website

https://dmc.umaine.edu/giving/

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