Students At UNE Helping Draw Attention To Maine Beaches Badly Damaged In 2024 Storms

It's one thing to study a concept "in theory" with the hopes of someday using what you learn to help the world around you.

It's another to study what's right in front of you, with the ability to take what you learn and apply it directly to the immediate world around you.

That's exactly what students at the University of New England have done.

Read More: In Maine, See Shocking Images of Bangor & Belfast's Raging Floods

A research team made led by assistant professor, Will Kochtitzky, Ph.D, from the School of Marine and Environmental Programs and comprised of six current and former  Science majors including Johanna Birchem (Environmental Science, ’26), Bryan Corvelo (Environmental Studies, ’27), Tyler Janik (Aquaculture, Aquarium Science, and Aquaponics, ’27), Ruth Ellis (Environmental Science, ’25), Katelyn DeWater, B.S. ’25 (Marine Sciences) and Paige-Marie Merrill, B.S. ’24 (Environmental Science) spent time mapping 4 Maine beaches that had been significantly impacted by back-to-back winter storms last year.

Using drone footage that provides 2D and 3D models, the team collected data on the coastline and mapped the region. When they analyzed that data, they realized that the storms had destroyed more than a quarter of the coastal dunes in those four beaches alone.

According to a spokesperson with the University, their published findings are the first and only to date related to those storms.

"The UNE team’s report, published on Sept. 22 in the journal Geomorphica, showed that the beaches in the coastal Maine communities of Saco, Biddeford, and Kennebunkport lost 28% of coastal dunes in the back-to-back storms that elicited federal disaster relief...

The UNE team noted in Geomorphica that dunes serve as the first line of defense during severe storms and provide protection to homes and roads as well as important wildlife habitat, including nesting sites for shorebirds like piping plovers.

Kochtitzky and his student research team found that, across the four shorelines in southern Maine, dune area loss ranged from 18 to 45%, while only 10 to 50% of dune volume was recovered nine months after the storm, at the end of the growing season."

The storms last year were no joke. They brought record-setting high water levels and high winds, which resulted in flooding, washed-out roads, and areas with washed-out trees and beaches. Over $70 million in damage was done to land and property across the state.
Read More: ME-DOT says Roads & Bridges Damaged In Rain Storm Finally Fixed

The information Kochitizky and his team published will not only help officials to determine the best course of action to help the immediate situation, but it will also help the state figure out a game plan for how to deal with severe weather situations in the future.

"The researchers further found that restoration efforts, including beach scraping and dune grass planting, were roughly 90% more effective for annual dune recovery than taking no action — findings that will aid coastal communities given a future that is expected to bring higher water levels and more powerful storms."

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The Maine Space Grant Consortium and the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund funded the research project.