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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May 21, 2024 Tucked away in a quiet, climate-controlled building on the University of Maine campus is a collection of old film. Donated to Fogler Library’s Special Collections by the James W. Sewall Company (Sewall) in 2019, the collection includes over 3,000 large canisters, each with a bright yellow “Kodak” sticker on the front and […]
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University of Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, J. Franklin Witter Farm, houses the Wyman’s Research and Innovation Center, which is spearheading research regarding the influence of climate change on Maine’s blueberry industry. Additionally, the Center houses an agroforestry demonstration site in conjunction with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Northeast Climate Hub. The […]
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May 24, 2024 Noah Charney, an assistant professor of conservation biology at the University of Maine, was featured in a profile by the New York Times for his work on understanding and interacting with landscapes. Charney practices reading the land around him — its past, present, potential for the future by picking up on patterns […]
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May 7, 2024 Scattered across the Penobscot Experimental Forest are veritable treasure troves for its denizens, each containing riches beyond comprehension. These caches do not contain gold or jewels – they’re filled with eastern white pine seeds and were placed by a team of researchers at the University of Maine for one purpose: to catch […]
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Warm weather means many farms across Maine will be hosting public access hours and events (check Real Maine or local farm websites for hours and details). MAFES’ Aroostook, Blueberry Hill, Highmoor, and Rogers farms will all be hosting field days and other opportunities for public access throughout the summer (see our events page for details). […]
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Stephanie Burnett, Associate Professor of Horticulture School of Food and Agriculture How I got to UMaine/MAFES: I am originally from the Panhandle of Florida, and I was raised by an engineer and nurse. Our extended family has strong roots in farming and horticulture; my great grandparents owned a citrus orchard in central Florida, and […]
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On Wednesday, May 10, 2024 Witter Farm welcomed 14 new heifers (female cattle that have not yet given birth). The Holstein heifers were selected from the stock available at Gold Top Farm in Knox, Maine. The lovely ladies were excited to arrive at their new home: The introduction of new stock to the Witter Farm’s […]
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Philip Fanning, Assistant Professor of Agricultural Entomology School of Biology and Ecology How I got here: I grew up on a small dairy farm in Tipperary, Ireland. Living on a farm is what I credit for my interest in becoming a scientist. I completed my Bachelor of Environmental Science degree at University College […]
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In a story titled “How pesticides, road salt threaten Maine’s water supply,” The Maine Monitor cited a 2022 University of Maine study which found that Maine used 493,000 tons of road salt in 2019-20, equal to roughly 787 pounds of salt for every resident. The evidence of many different pollutants found in road salt can […]
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