Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Science matters, says John Hagan. Except when it doesn’t. Take climate change, he challenges. Despite an ever-growing body of scientific evidence supporting the fact that human activity leads to global warming, the issue remains as polarizing as ever. The U.S. Congress, for example, has been unable to agree upon or pass major legislation to deal […]

Could Northeast shellfish fisheries and beaches along Maine’s coast have fewer contaminated areas than currently reflected in closures and advisories? The possibility is being examined by scientists looking for methods to test the areas in question with greater precision. Maine, New Hampshire and other New England states close thousands of acres of shellfish fisheries every […]

The Sebago Lake watershed supplies water to 15 percent of Maine’s population, but projections indicate continued development over the next few decades could have a negative effect on water quality. Brett Gerard, a PhD student in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences, decided to look where early signs of change within the watershed might […]

Diminishing snowpack in Maine is a very real repercussion of global climate change. From maple syrup production to animal food availability to fresh water resources, the phenomenon is not going away, scientists say. But right now, outside Old Town High School in 15 degree cold, it’s come down to “the tube”. “Hold on, hold on. […]

Black ash trees are in the crosshairs of the emerald ash borer (EAB) with the deadly insect knocking on the door of Northeastern coastal states. Kara Costanza concentrated her studies on the precious tree species, working on multiple preemptive  solutions. Costanza, a student with the former Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI), studied black ash stands in Maine and northern New […]

Excessive sediment and the contaminants absorbed to sediment particles cause habitat and water quality problems in water bodies throughout the country. Efficient reduction in the sediment loads to receiving waters requires identification of the most prominent sediment sources. Better knowledge of watershed sources and their relation to the loads delivered from large rivers was the […]

Her doctoral research concentration may have been the life cycle of juvenile frogs and salamanders, but Britt Cline’s research ended up involving an awful lot of humans, many of them far outside the world of biology: social scientists, economists, community members and elected officials. And she’s convinced that’s the way of the future. “I sincerely […]

Effective communication and shared decision-making may lead to better outcomes for sustainability science teams working on collaborative research. Communication affects project participants’ ongoing commitment to collaboration, their ability to combine different ideas and understand one another, and eventual project outcomes such as developing research methods, implementing new technologies, and enacting legislation. Those are the findings […]

Honors College seniors Audrey Cross and Ashley Thibeault are tracking every single food purchase made by UMaine Dining Services over a period of two months in the 2012-13 academic year. If this sounds meticulous, it’s because it is. The task involves combing through thousands of line items, noting every acquisition of every bit of dining hall […]

Last year, citizen scientists across the nation collected dragonfly larvae, which were tested for mercury levels. The final results could indicate risks for other species, including humans and the fish we eat Sarah Nelson, an associate research professor at UMaine’s Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions and the School of Forest Resources, was one […]