On Thursday, July 10 Dr. Kevin Eckelbarger will deliver an illustrated lecture on the roots of American marine biology at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole. Although the subject might sound somewhat esoteric, it is not. His talk will be aimed at a lay audience.

Dr. Eckelbarger is known as an excellent speaker who always gets his audiences interested in what he has to say, be it speaking to a lay group or presenting a scientific paper. This time he plans to tell something of what marine biology is all about and how the field has advanced to the point where there are important every day applications to the world where Maine fishermen earn their living.

This is the first in a series of six lectures sponsored by the Gulf of Maine Foundation. This year the theme is "The Damariscotta River and the Darling Marine Center." The lectures will be on six successive Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in Brooke Hall on the Darling Center campus on Clarks Cove Road in Walpole.

Dr. Eckelbarger is a professor of marine biology and director of the Darling Center. He is currently writing a book tracing marine biology for the 24 centuries from 400 B.C. in Greece to the current day in Maine. His talk will trace the fascinating evolution of marine science, so relevant to the coast of Maine with its important fisheries.

Everyone is invited to attend this and all of the lectures. They are free to members of the Gulf of Maine Foundation. A donation of five dollars is invited from non-members to help support the work of the Foundation. After the lecture everyone is invited to enjoy refreshments and meet Dr. Eckelbarger.

The Gulf of Maine Foundation is a non-profit foundation whose major work is providing marine science classes at the Darling Center for schools in Maine. During the past spring over 750 students from elementary school to high school came to the Darling Center for classes which most schools were not able to provide on their own. More information is available at www.gulfof mainefoundation.org.