Common eelgrass is a type of aquatic plant that grows in shallow waters. It provides a range of invaluable benefits to the ecosystems it calls home. This is precisely why Tiffany Wu set out to predict where these meadows will grow using spatial data for her master’s thesis.

We were joined by Tiffany’s collaborators on this project—Cheyenne Adams from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Janelle Goeke from the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP).

Watch the visualizer: https://www.bluemarblegeo.com/video-collection/geotalks-podcast-ep-11/

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mapping-aquatic-vegetation-in-maine/id1734675688?i=1000729339003

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5jkPhJoLYX94WoRMrNXKNQ?si=d92a22d13fcf47c5

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• Timestamps • [00:00] – Intro [01:52] – About Tiffany’s master’s thesis [02:55] – Tiffany’s collaboration with Maine DEP & CBEP [04:40] – Cheyenne Adams & Maine’s Marine Vegetation Mapping Program [06:00] – Janelle Goeke & Casco Bay Estuary Partnership [07:37] – Eelgrass (also known as seagrass!) [08:46] – The importance of Common eelgrass [10:12] – Habitat value of aquatic vegetation & species [11:35] – How eelgrass health affects Mainers [13:11] – Status of eelgrass meadows in Casco Bay [14:01] – The role of GIS software in this project [15:35] – Maine Coastal Mapping Initiative [16:06] – Mapping shoreline stabilization in Maine [17:30] – What’s rewarding about work like this? [19:35] – Insights for budding environmental scientists [21:50] – Wrap up & outro

• Resources for Listeners • Learn about the Marine Vegetation Mapping Program (MVMP) from the Maine DEP: https://www.maine.gov/dep/water/monitoring/coastal/index.html Learn about the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP): https://www.cascobayestuary.org/ Download a trial of Global Mapper: https://go.bluemarblegeo.com/conservation-trial

More about mapping and ecology on GEOTalks:

Contact Tiffany: tiffanyw@bluemarblegeo.com Contact Janelle: janelle.goeke@maine.edu Contact Cheyenne: cheyenne.adams@maine.gov

About Tiffany Wu: Tiffany joined Blue Marble Geographics as an R&D Intern in 2023 and continued as an Analyst with the R&D and Cloud teams after earning her M.S. in Environmental Planning from Tufts University. In her role, she contributes to workflows that integrate machine learning and spatial data science. Her current projects include containerizing ML pipelines for land cover classification and building extraction, and developing RESTful APIs for real-time inference. A lifelong nature enthusiast from coastal California, Tiffany holds a B.S. in Animal Science with a minor in Environmental Science & Sustainability from Cornell University.

About Cheyenne Adams: Cheyenne has managed the Marine Vegetation Mapping Program at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) since 2023, shortly after its creation by the State Legislature to map seagrass and salt marsh habitats on a 5-year cycle. She oversees all aspects of the program, from aerial surveys and ground-truthing to photointerpretation and geospatial QA/QC. Before her time with the DEP, Cheyenne earned her B.S. in Zoology from the University of Illinois, studying coral propagation and striped bass aquaculture. She then earned her M.S. in Marine Biology from the University of Maine, where she worked with oyster farmers on the Damariscotta River. Postgrad, she was an aquaculture scientist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources, diving and mapping eelgrass beds to inform assessment for proposed aquaculture leases.

About Janelle Goeke: Janelle Goeke is the Staff Scientist with the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership. With a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Texas A&M University and a B.S. in Biology from SUNY Geneseo, Janelle brings scientific rigor and a passion for coastal ecosystems to her role. Janelle leads CBEP’s environmental monitoring efforts for the Casco Bay watershed, coordinating research on emerging threats, analyzing long-term ecological data, and developing tools for science-informed stewardship. Her focus on enhancing data accessibility helps support community partners, local organizations, and decision-makers to better understand and protect Casco Bay.