Tegwin Taylor: Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Tegwin Taylor, raised in a rural Iowa community, always knew she would be a scientist. Her grandfather was a veterinarian. “I honestly did not consider any other career path,” she said.
Scientific inquiry drives Taylor. It motivated her to pursue a master’s in public health and focus on infectious diseases, examining the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and the environment.
Subsequent roles as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
veterinary epidemiologist, an Acting One Health Coordinator for the National Park Service, and a crew supervisor and volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center’s Monterey Bay Operations
further developed her expertise in the intersections between public health and wildlife disease.
Taylor originally moved to Maine to pursue a doctorate in ecology and environmental sciences at UMaine. Her studies slowed down when new opportunities arose, and she accepted a full-time position as a wildlife health biologist at Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIFW). One of her primary roles at MDIFW is to assist with PFAS, the so-called “Forever Chemicals”, surveillance in Maine’s wildlife — a complex multidimensional problem connected to the health of Mainers, the environment, and wildlife — and it’s a role Taylor is uniquely suited for.
Her nominator, Dr. Caroline Noblet, an associate professor of economics at UMaine said, “Tegwin has helped UMaine researchers connect and form multiple teams, including Maine Department Inland Fisheries and Wildlife personnel (biologist, communication specialists) with UMaine researchers and students from a variety of disciplines, to tackle ‘wicked’ questions about PFAS in Maine’s wildlife.”
In 2023, the Mitchell Center convened a meeting attended by state officials, agency researchers, and UMaine faculty to discuss priorities for addressing PFAS contamination in wildlife. Several UMaine research projects emerged from this meeting, and Taylor serves as an advisor.
One project focuses on hunters’ perceptions of PFAS and how PFAS are potentially impacting their behaviors and interest in hunting. Another study investigates PFAS buildup in wood turtles, a species that is experiencing widespread decline in the eastern U.S. Wood turtles spend their winters fully submerged in small to midsized streams, including some streams with high concentrations of PFAS. Taylor also helps facilitate a study examining how PFAS in wildlife may impact overall health, examining the animals’ microbiomes, fitness parameters, and immune responses.
When Taylor took the role at MDIFW, she acknowledged that she was disheartened by the breadth of challenges created by PFAS contamination. But, her collaborations with colleagues and researchers on the local, state, and federal levels has changed her perspectives.
“I think the monster of an issue that PFAS is, everyone really values the collaboration and realizes that it really takes a village. We would not be able to do what we’ve been able to do without the collaboration of landowners impacted by PFAS, our state’s leadership and inter-agency colleagues as well as the university,” Taylor said.