Welcome to the Perry Phytoplankton & Optics Lab

Mary Jane Perry's Phytoplankton and Optics Lab is located at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole Maine. 


This lab focuses on the optical properties of water and how they are related to phytoplankton abundance and composition.  Research vessels have traditionally been the primary way of making oceanic observation; in order expand the scale of observations in both space and time our lab has been involved in developing and testing new sensors that can be used on autonomous vehicles that can help us achieve a more global picture of our oceans.  We deploy a variety of sensors on platforms such as gliders, floats and CTDs over varying time scales.  This data combined with satellite ocean color measurements is used to look at the fate of carbon that is taken up by phytoplankton in the oceans.
The University of Maine