Award Data

Oscilla Power, Inc. (OPI) is developing a utility-scale wave energy harvester that is enabled by low cost and readily-available magnetostrictive alloys. T his device, which utilizes no moving parts, has the potential to deliver predictable quantities of electric power to coastal utilities, industrial users, and remote facilities at costs competitive with coal or gas. The Phase I project demonstra ...

This Phase II research expands Phase I research on Saccharina latissima and is to design and develop “seed” nursery methodologies for the development of commercial-scale production of juvenile kelp plants including Alaria esculenta and Laminaria digitata. The project objectives include: 1. Isolate and maintain cultures of New England species of Alaria esculenta and laminaria digitata to be use ...

Marine aquaculture production now exceeds 20 million metric tons annually (FAO 2010) but viral diseases are still a major threat to the expansion of sustainable mariculture systems (National Marine Fisheries Service 2007). Pathogenic viruses continue to devastate many fish and shellfish operations every year (ICES Mariculture Committee 2004, Lightner 2011). To date, vaccines against aquatic anim ...

A PHASE I SBIR PROJECT TO INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DEVELOPING CASHMERE PRODUCTION AS AN EMPLOY- MENT AND INCOME-GENERATING OPPORTUNITY FOR RURAL AREAS. THEPROPOSED FEASIBILITY STUDY INCLUDES THREE MAJOR AREAS OF RESEARCH: (1) THE COMPILATION OF EXISTING GENETIC RESEARCH ON THE CASHMERE GOAT; (2) THE INVESTIGATION OF EDUCATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS OF SMALL FARMERS AND RURAL LAND- OWNERS ...

Gravel streambeds and beaches provide spawning habitat for salmon and form barriers to coastal erosion. Understanding how gravel is transported through measurements is essential for monitoring the ecological and physical processes of gravel-bed systems and for calibrating sediment transport models. We propose Phase II research to develop: 1) impact-recording sensors that can be deployed by wading ...

Biodiesel is a type of diesel fuel that is made from vegetable oil instead of petroleum. Obstacles to wide scale use in the US are the higher cost of biodiesel and the dearth of local processing facilities. In Washington State, canola is a high oil seed crop that can be used to make biodiesel. The canola meal that is left after oil extraction is an excellent food for cattle. However, high producti ...

Animal Manure Management is a major challenge to dairies and CAFO's with respect to efficient resource use, farm economics and environmental impacts. Composting is an established process for converting animal manure into other value-added products such as soil amendment and animal bedding material. However, current agricultural composting practices do not generally address increasingly stringent a ...

Successful completion of marketing and logistics research will provide post and pole plants in rural communities, forestland managers, and distribution businesses with critical understanding of the urban retail and wholesale marketplace and how best to position roundwood as a building, woodcraft and landscape material. The effects will be to: a) stimulate demand for small diameter logs from forest ...

In order to meet increasing demands for high quality mussels, a new technology of mussel raft aquaculture is developing in Maine, where there is a need to improve site selection, and develop best management practices for mussel farms. Through a combination of modeling and field data collection, we will develop an expert system for the optimization of mussel raft aquaculture. In Phase II, we will p ...

Commercial wild harvest of rainbow smelt populations is the principal source for supplying both the live bait and human consumption markets for this species. Unfortunately, populations of smelt have been in decline in the Northeast for decades and in 2004, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service listed rainbow smelt as a species of concern in the Gulf of Maine. It is inevitable that commercial and ...