Pumpkin season starts at the University of Maine’s Highmoor Farm early in June. David Handley, a small fruit and vegetable specialist at University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and Mark Hutton, associate professor of vegetable crop, watch as the pumpkins grow, taking calls along the way from farmers in Maine who may be experiencing their own […]
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Joan Ferrini-Mundy highlighted the university’s leadership at today’s Maine Blue Economy Innovation Summit. ‘You don’t get to focus on an economy without thinking about the people who make and drive that economy,’ she said. On Maine’s rugged coast, where shipbuilding, fishing and working waterfronts have defined generations, leaders say the future is once again tied […]
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The research farm recently underwent a $3 million renovation funded by the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan so that the land-grant university could accelerate its development of new potato varieties, like the successful Caribou Russet, and the growth of Maine’s agricultural economy and workforce Gov. Janet Mills and leaders of the University of Maine and […]
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For nearly a decade, Amanda Gavin has studied and conserved lakes, including many in Maine, that provide drinking water and support agriculture. Today, she’s investigating what the future may hold for tens of thousands of crystalline blue lakes within an Arctic country experiencing rapid ecological change: Greenland. More frequent heat waves, drought, heavy rain and […]
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Jose Eduardo Meireles, assistant professor of plant evolution and systematics at the University of Maine, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to develop faster, cheaper methods to study biodiversity and plant function. The CAREER, or Faculty Early Career Development, awards are among NSF’s most prestigious and support research and education activities led […]
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American lobsters along Maine’s coast have relocated to new habitats, while the population simultaneously shrunk in abundance and grew older, according to a new study by University of Maine researchers. For decades, the vast majority of adult lobsters resided in boulder shelter habitats. This knowledge helped inform longtime conservation efforts and regulations within the more […]
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The Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station (MAFES) has restarted it’s publication funding program after a two-year pause. We are proud to announce that with the first cycle of 2024 funding, MAFES has supported seven peer-reviewed publications. These publications reflect the diverse research programs supported by the Experiment Station (see below). A second 2024 funding […]
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Groundwater may be an underutilized resource for irrigation that could benefit the production of crops in Aroostook County. Increasing use of groundwater resources, however, may impact surface-water systems by decreasing base flow that sustains low flow conditions and by altering flow patterns that organisms, such as brook trout, rely on during parts of their life […]
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The single defining challenge to our modern biological resources is one of rapid landscape evolution. To manage these impacts and make informed choices concerning the tradeoffs between biological conservation, economic prosperity, and the Maine way(s) of life, we need to understand what species and communities are most at risk to different disturbances. The proposed project […]
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Drinking water districts are facing challenges with the changing climate. Across Maine, there are more than 40 surface freshwater sources used for drinking water; 10 of these (including Bangor and Portland) are not filtered as part of the treatment process. Increasing lake water temperatures and DOC concentrations will alter biological activity in Maine’s lakes, yet […]
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