Isenhour and Yoder help turn the tide on disposable food containers

UMaine Ph.D. student Chyanne Yoder seeks to prevent plastic pollution at its source by piloting systems for reusable food containers in Maine coastal communities, reducing the need for single-use foodware. The Ph.D. student in anthropology and environmental policy at the University of Maine is championing this cause through the Marine Debris Project alongside her adviser, […]

Noblet and students present at DC conference on efforts to communicate PFAS contamination

UMaine faculty members Erin Percival Carter, associate professor of marketing, Qiujie “Angie” Zheng, associate professor of business analytics, and Caroline Noblet, associate professor of economics, traveled to Washington, D.C., in June to present at the American Marketing Association’s Marketing and Public Policy Conference. The researchers presented findings from their research on how proactive and transparent […]

Transforming Surplus into Solutions: New Report Highlights Food Rescue Potential in Maine

Each year, Maine wastes 361,000 tons of food—while 15% of Mainers go hungry. A new report reveals how strengthening Maine’s charitable food system could dramatically cut waste, feed more people, and fight climate change. The research outlines bold opportunities to expand food rescue, boost storage and distribution, and improve access with dignity — but also […]

Leslie quoted in Maine Public article on wild oyster and softshell clam populations

Heather Leslie, professor in UMaine’s School of Marine Sciences and Mitchell Center faculty fellow, was recently quoted in a Maine Public article about the rise in wild oyster populations and decline of softshell clams in the midcoast region. There’s no single reason for the softshell clam population’s decline, Leslie said. “We know that the ocean […]

Leslie, Stoll and Risley document local shellfish harvesting trends, changes

By studying the Damariscotta and Medomak River estuaries, University of Maine researchers have formally documented shifts in shellfish populations, from soft shell clams to oysters. Because Maine’s intertidal mudflats, such as those found in these estuaries, are difficult to study, this work filled an important gap in information about shellfish harvesting. Research documented how tidal […]

Road to Solutions


Senator George J. Mitchell

Senator George J. Mitchell

…the ethos of the Mitchell Center’s work reflects one of my deepest beliefs: the importance of public service. The many faculty and students involved in the Mitchell Center have committed themselves to a goal larger than their individual lives: the goal of helping to build a better world starting right here in our own communities in our own state.