So much science happens in Acadia — and it has since its inception

About a week ago, Kevin Strange, president of MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor, wrote an interesting contributor piece for the BDN. In it, he explored the beginnings of MDI Biological Laboratory and how George Dorr saw Mount Desert Island as a whole.

Jordan Pond

Here’s an excerpt:

Many visitors to Acadia National Park are familiar with the MDI Biological Laboratory, but few are aware that its origins go back to the creation of the park. George Dorr, one of the park’s founders, envisioned Mount Desert Island as a summer home for scientists to work “on a fresh field of life, bird or plant or animal.”

As a man of prodigious energies, he made good on his vision. In 1916, he was instrumental in the purchase of the Emery farmstead in Salisbury Cove for the site of a research laboratory. He later convinced the leadership of the South Harpswell Biological Laboratory to relocate to Mount Desert Island. As described by Dorr, the mission of the new laboratory, now called the MDI Biological Laboratory, was to advance science by studying the “earliest forms of life.”

As we celebrate Acadia’s centennial, it’s worth looking at where Dorr’s vision stands today.

Read more in “A century ago, George Dorr saw Acadia as summer home for scientists.”

Sarah Walker Caron

About Sarah Walker Caron

Sarah Walker Caron is editor of Bangor Metro magazine and senior features editor for the Bangor Daily News. She is the author of "The Super Easy 5-Ingredient Cookbook," (Sept. 2018, Rockridge Press) and the co-author of "Grains as Mains: Modern Recipes Using Ancient Grains" (March 2015, DK). Her recipes have appeared in the BDN, Betty Crocker publications, Glamour.com and more. She also writes about food at www.sarahscucinabella.com.