UMaine to build $10.3M aquaculture research and workforce training center
New England Council member, University of Maine, is working on the addition of the Sustainable Workforce Innovation Center in Orono.
Opening in 2025, the $10.3 million research center will train future workers for aquaculture careers and help Maine solve problems with its fish and oyster farms. The center will be built at the flagship campus in Orono. The board of trustees voted unanimously at its meeting in July to use up $1.5M of the budget to continue the design finalization process. The research center is being designed by SMRT Architects & Engineers and is expected to be 14,200 square feet.
“[The center] links research with teaching, so there’s classroom and research space together, and it brings in professionals from the aquaculture industry, academic researchers and experts and students to work together on identifying and addressing the kinds of issues that the aquaculture industry confronts,” said Trish Riley, chair of the University of Maine System Board of Trustees.
The New England Council congratulates the University of Maine for this important new research center.
Read more in the Portland Press Herald.