Vernal Pools for ME

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

Institution: University of Maine

Sponsor: Maine Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI)

Vernal Pools for ME

The Vernal Pools for ME project highlights and enhances the connection between stakeholders and vernal pools by encouraging understanding of these special, small water resources through a portfolio of outreach materials.

Primary school children will learn about the diversity of animals that use vernal pools and conservation through songs and a hybrid coloring book and field guide. Middle school and high-school students will benefit from web-based videos. Lay people will benefit from easily accessible and engaging web-based outreach material such as social media and blogs.

This interdisciplinary outreach project builds on knowledge and opportunities provided by research conducted under three programs: the 2009 Sustainability Solutions Initiative and National Science Foundation’s Coupled Natural and Human Systems “Of Pools and People” grant on community based conservation of pools; the Special Area Management Plan for the New England Region of the Army Corps of Engineers created by the Vernal Pool Streamlining Working Group to put pool conservation in the hands of local people; and, a $47,789 Environmental Protection Agency grant.

Team Members:

Aram Calhoun, University of Maine Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions
Kristine Hoffmann of the UMaine Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology