Ohio Sea Grant is pleased to announce Maria D’Amico as the new Clean Marinas Coordinator for the Lake Erie Basin.
In her role, D’Amico will coordinate the Ohio Clean Marinas Program’s efforts to promote sustainable and safe boating practices and environmental stewardship across Lake Erie’s marina communities by providing technical assistance, training, and resources to marina owners and operators to help them meet Clean Marina standards.
“We are thrilled to welcome Maria to the Ohio Sea Grant family,” said Sarah Orlando, Ohio Clean Marinas Program Manager. “Her passion for the watershed, skills in public outreach, and commitment to sustainability will strengthen our efforts to engage marinas and boaters to protect our Great Lakes.”
Maria D’Amico, Ohio Clean Marinas Coordinator – Lake Erie Basin
D’Amico said her interest in the natural sciences began during her youth in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
“I was a really outdoorsy child, and, in my free time, I would always be swimming in the rivers and waterfalls of the Chagrin River,” D’amico said. “The love that formed for that area, and specifically the Quarry Rock and Henry Church Jr. Rock area, transformed into a passion of wanting to protect this most beautiful and pure thing, the most natural thing that could possibly be.”
In 2022, D’Amico earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a specialization in Ecology and Conservation Biology. She returned to Bowling Green State University to pursue a Master of Science in Biological Sciences, graduating in 2025. During her graduate studies, she wrote her master’s thesis on the exposure effects of nitrogen on an endangered fish species and was awarded the First Place Student Poster at the Aquaculture America Conference.
During her undergraduate studies at Bowling Green State University, D’Amico realized she could combine her academic interest in science with her passion for nature.
“I remember my sophomore year of college, I didn’t want to continue my studies in the medical laboratory sciences. I wanted to be outside helping the environment and educating people,” D’Amico said. “Something sparked, it drove me, and I realized I could actually do this.”
In addition to her work as a graduate student assistant, field research habitat technician, research supervisor, and greenhouse supervisor at Bowling Green State University, D’Amico previously worked as fishery technician and botanical manager at Freshwater Farms of Ohio in Urbana.
In her new role, D’Amico hopes to bring her research background to help expand the Clean Marinas Program’s projects.
“I’m really excited to start seeing where I can implement potential research projects with collaborations with anywhere from local governments to nonprofits to universities,” she shared. “It’s the endless learning, and endless being able to help people. So much of Ohio Sea Grant is just helping people, and I’m excited to continue to be a part of that.”
D’Amico can be contacted by email at damico.197@osu.edu or at her office phone number, 614-247-0956.
Ohio Sea Grant is supported by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University Extension, and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs nation-wide dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie and is the research, education, and outreach facility of Ohio Sea Grant and part of CFAES School of Environment and Natural Resources.