Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Brie Berry extends her reuse work to food redistribution In the spring 2017 semester, Ph.D. student Brie Berry began work on a research project focused on food waste and food insecurity in Maine, in partnership with the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and the Mitchell Center. Food insecurity is defined as “being without reliable access […]

An innovative multi-institution course teaches how to link knowledge with action  The Mitchell Center’s Future of Dams project is designed to develop a stakeholder-engaged, solutions-focused framework for decision-making relative to New England’s hydropower dams—more than 50 of which are scheduled for relicensing in the next decade, and iconic mill dams, many of which are now […]

Portland Press Herald July 2, 2017 Aaron Strong once quit a graduate program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But don’t worry, he definitely still managed to get a good education. The Maine native arrived at the University of Maine to teach in the School of Marine Sciences armed with plenty of degrees (Swarthmore, Tufts, […]

Ecologists and conservationists have long recognized that keystone species have major ecological importance disproportionate to their abundance or size. Think beavers, sea stars and prairie dogs — species that keep a ecosystem balanced. Read more about Mitchell Center Fellow Malcom Hunter’s work published recently in a Special Issue of “Biological Conservation.”

Clams are an iconic species to the state of Maine. But do you know what it takes to get them from the mud to the market and finally to your plate? Since early 2015, Mitchell Center researchers have been working with clam harvesters to develop engaged media production techniques that can enhance the visibility of their […]

ORONO, ME – A database of over 6,000 community-based renewable energy projects nationwide developed by University of Maine researchers is now publicly available via the Internet. The website will aid those interested in pursuing group, shared, municipal, or non-profit energy projects to connect, learn from each other, and help projects develop from the bottom up. […]

Doctoral student Courtney King puts a positive spin on climate change “anxiety” After UMaine doctoral candidate Courtney King graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in geology, she dove into an eclectic mix of opportunities. For an internship through the Geological Society of America, she worked in Death Valley for three months as assistant […]

Fourth-year UMaine Food Science and Human Nutrition major Olivia Conrad took the first place award in the 2017 Sustainability & Water Conference Undergraduate Poster Competition. Her poster, titled “Objective analysis of the physical and microbial quality changes that occur in packaged baby spinach when stored past the best-by date,” was the result of a research […]

Future of Dams researcher Karen Wilson of the University of Southern Maine was awarded funds to support an undergraduate student for the “Working with the Alewife Harvesters of Maine to Assess Harvest Strategies for Sustainable and Expanding River Herring Harvests in Maine” project. The project is relevant to Maine’s economy particularly as a potential lobster bait […]

Both the Bangor Daily News and the Rockland-based Free Press ran extensive news stories on aspects of the 2017 Maine Sustainability & Water Conference held at the Augusta Civic Center on March 30. The Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions is the lead organizer of the annual conference. Founded in 1994, it is the largest conference in Maine […]