Johnson takes part in Keller BLOOM program

    EAST BOOTHBAY — Sixteen high school students from across Maine recently took part in a weeklong residential program at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay. Among the 16 high school juniors, working side-by-side with marine scientists to learn about ocean issues and see what it is like to have a career as a research scientist, was Zachary Johnson of Foxcroft Academy and a resident of Dover-Foxcroft.

Johnson

    This cohort marks the 25th annual Keller BLOOM (Bigelow Laboratory Orders Of Magnitude) Program, where students work with scientist mentors, collecting samples, conducting laboratory experiments, analyzing data, and presenting their scientific findings. Keller BLOOM began in 1989 to bring a group of regular students to the laboratory to help scientists understand the ocean that is so central to life in Maine. They imagined a program that would give the students a chance to work side by side with some of the nation’s top scientists, hauling nets, puzzling through microscopes, making sense of the ocean’s many mysteries. To make it equally available to all, they decided to select one student from each of Maine’s counties to participate, and to cover all the costs, even food and accommodation. The program has been run in this way for the past 25 years, and 400 Maine high school students have participated.
    “Keller BLOOM is one great way for Maine’s youth to learn science while having a phenomenal experience.” says Dr. Thomas E. Keller, co-director Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance. “For many of the 400 Maine high school students who attend this unique, annual event, it has been a life-altering experience.”
    An independent assessment of the long-running program in 2011 showed that 100 percent of all BLOOM students subsequently attend college, 70 percent major in science or mathematics and half go on to pursue science careers.
    Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences conducts research ranging from microbial oceanography to large-scale ocean processes that affect the global environment. Recognized as a leader in Maine’s emerging innovation economy, the Laboratory’s research, education, and enterprise are spurring significant economic growth in the state.