Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Research being conducted through the University of Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI) was highlighted in the National Climate Assessment report recently released by President Barack Obama, which found global warming is directly affecting life in Maine and other New England states. See full UMaine News post…

Cusk don’t have much charisma. The cod-like intruders slide out of lobster traps with bubbling skin, regurgitated stomachs and bulging eyes. They have no real commercial viability and virtually no name recognition. But in the Gulf of Maine, these bottom feeders are bellying into the klieg lights. Cusk, which are hauled to the surface offshore […]

When tourists visit Monhegan Island this summer, they may get a trip to the virtual future. Armed with digital tablets and headphones, a group of UMaine student researchers will offer willing participants a chance to immerse themselves in the sights and sounds of a scenario that could impact their experience of the island: the proposed […]

This winter, teams of Maine high school students trudged through harsh conditions to measure snow depths at different sites around the state. It wasn’t a typical science class exercise. The students and their teachers were engaged in serious research, scientific inquiries that could have real impact in the state. Guided by their teachers, the students […]

Bridie McGreavy’s doctoral work at UMaine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative, a program of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center, extended far beyond the constructs of her discipline and far beyond the boundaries of the university. A research fellow on SSI’s Knowledge-to-Action team, her work focused on building more resilient partnerships between stakeholders – such as communities or […]

Ten University of New England (UNE) undergraduate researchers and four graduate students participated in the New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) conference held May 1-3, 2014 in Salem, Mass. The conference focused on the science and management of tidal waters. The students gave talks and presented posters based on research funded by UMaine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative, […]

In the recently published DownEast articles, SSI postdoctoral researcher Bridie McGreavy discusses “Big Night” – the first warm, rainy spring night that triggers the migration of Maine frogs and salamanders from their winter hibernation spots to the vernal pools where they breed.  Also featured is SSI researcher Aram Calhoun, leader of SSI’s Protecting Natural Resources […]

Jenny Shrum wants to understand the relationship between climate and maple sap flow – and the potential effects on Maine’s maple syrup industry. It’s a big undertaking, one that could shed light on the future of one of Maine’s more distinctive brands. Shrum, a Masters student at UMaine’s School of Biology and Ecology and a Graduate […]

Michelle Johnson, doctoral candidate in UMaine’s Ecology and Environmental Science program and graduate research assistant with the Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI), will join the US Forest Service’s New York City Urban Field Station as a Social Scientist/Ecologist this fall. Johnson, a member of SSI’s Alternative Futures team who helped develop the award-winning Maine Futures Community […]

Robert Kates, Presidential Professor of Sustainability Science at UMaine, has received the 2014 AAG Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography from the Association of American Geographers. The association noted it “proudly confers this award to Kates in recognition of the many ways that his unrelenting creativity, energy, and care for the world around him […]