Whether it’s conducting cutting-edge research, commenting on current events or receiving that diploma, University of Maine faculty, students and leaders made headlines locally, nationally and internationally in 2025.
From research labs and classrooms to commencement stages and championship arenas, UMaine was featured in more than 18,000 stories published from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2025. In addition, our faculty, students and leaders were quoted or referenced 25,000 times in outlets based in every U.S. state and over 40 countries.
Below is a sampling of UMaine media placements in 2025.
Portland Press Herald — ‘Think of UMaine as the R&D department of Maine itself’
In an op-ed published in the Portland Press Herald, UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy encouraged Mainers to think of the university as the state’s research and development department.
“While all research universities provide value to their home states, UMaine is invaluable to Maine,” wrote Ferrini-Mundy, who also serves as vice chancellor for research and innovation for the University of Maine System. “With an economy almost entirely reliant on small businesses that typically lack in-house expertise and facilities necessary to develop and improve products and processes, our university is Maine’s Research & Development (R&D) Department.”
Bangor Daily News — Showcasing campus capital projects, 2026 look-ahead
In December, the Bangor Daily News touted the many capital projects which will move the university and the state forward in the coming years. The BDN interviewed Ferrini-Mundy, Interim Vice President for Research Giovanna Guidoboni, and many others.
The BDN highlighted upcoming facilities like the GEM Factory of the Future and Sustainable Aquaculture Workforce and Innovation Center.
“I think we can see how our faculty, staff and students have helped to make all of these things attractive and possible. We have the talent here on this campus to warrant these kinds of facilities, and so it’s appropriate that they happen,” Ferrini-Mundy said.
People Magazine — Two senior citizens’ road to graduation
At age 88, Joan Alexander likely became the oldest undergraduate degree recipient in UMaine’s 160-year history, concluding a journey she began in the 1960s. Local and national news organizations, including People magazine, told Alexander’s story, and how she was acknowledged during one of UMaine’s undergraduate ceremonies in May
People also featured Jules Hathaway of Veazie, Maine, who graduated with a master’s degree in student development in higher education from UMaine at age 73.
Bangor Daily News — Multi-story graduation celebration
When hundreds of students were awarded diplomas amid cheers from family and friends at the Cross Insurance Center, the BDN celebrated alongside them with not one, but four stories on UMaine’s 2025 commencement ceremonies. The package included a preview, guidance on how to watch the livestreams, recap and photo collection.
“I myself realized that we are all blessed by an immeasurable amount of families,” said valedictorian Meg Caron during her speech, as quoted by the BDN. “From the sports teams I’ve been a part of, the labs I’ve researched in, the teachers and classmates I’ve grown close to, and the roommates I’ve had in Maine, Michigan, France, Costa Rica and Canada, I’ve formed familial relationships with a thousand souls, and they’ve each gifted me a part of themselves.”
The New York Times — ‘How healthy are potatoes?’
When exploring the nutritional benefits of potatoes before Thanksgiving, the New York Times tapped an expert from the home of the popular Caribou Russet.
Mary Ellen Camire, professor of food science and human nutrition at UMaine, spoke to the Times about how potatoes contain a modest amount of vitamin B6, which is needed for cardiovascular, immune and mental health. Purple and red potatoes have pigments called anthocyanins that promote cardiovascular health, slow starch digestion and help stave off cognitive problems, she said.
The Boston Globe — Hockey East champions
The UMaine men’s hockey team secured its sixth Hockey East Tournament title with a 5-2 win over UConn at Boston’s TD Garden. The Boston Globe and ESPN were among the dozens of media outlets that reported on the Black Bears’ first conference championship since 2004.
And they did it before a sellout crowd of over 17,000, most of them making the trip south from Maine.
“I’m extremely proud of them, and happy for the guys in the room, happy for the school, and really the whole state of Maine, because it felt like the whole state was there,” coach Ben Barr said after the game.
Scientific American — The dire wolf debate
As memes and social media chatter spread worldwide about Colossal Biosciences’ genetic modification of gray wolf pups to resemble the dire wolf, publications like Scientific American got the rundown from the experts. UMaine’s Jacquelyn Gill, professor of terrestrial paleoecology, spoke to the inability of such extinct species to exist the same as they once did.
“[The pups] don’t have any traits that would allow us to understand the dire wolf any better than we did yesterday,” Gill said, adding that understanding ice age organisms isn’t just a matter of knowing what they looked like or what they ate — but also about knowing what they did in those ancient ecosystems. “Some of those things are coded genetically; some of those are cultural.”
The New York Times — Struggles of rural children
The struggles of children in rural America and why they are dealing with increasing barriers to support services was explored in a New York Times op-ed published in November. UMaine’s Catharine Biddle, associate professor of education, discussed the challenges rural districts face when trying to provide food, health care and counseling services to students who can’t access them elsewhere.
The op-ed notes that “In one paper Biddle wrote, where she spoke to over 100 educators in rural Maine about how they dealt with children with adverse childhood experiences, a teacher mentioned that the school nurse is on site just once a month, and that teachers feel as if they are acting as ad hoc social workers on a daily basis.”
WABI-TV (CBS) — Seeking a universal flu treatment
UMaine students are using physics to fight the flu, and WABI joined them in the lab to showcase their work.
A group of undergraduate and graduate students, led by physics professor Sam Hess, has been doing single molecule microscopy combined with molecular simulations to learn about how influenza viruses mutate and hijack the cells of their host. Their discoveries could lead to the creation of a universal flu treatment with potential applications for other viruses, offering more effective treatment options to defend against cold and flu season.
“The idea is, can we come up with something more universal. So that way we’re not playing this guessing game every year,” said David Winski, a graduate student at UMaine working on his PhD in Biophysics.
CNN — ‘How do we identify hazing?’
Following a staged kidnapping at a high school in Syracuse, New York, CNN interviewed UMaine’s Elizabeth Allan, professor of higher education leadership, about the culture of hazing, its relevancy in schools and prevention methods.
“It’s not really focused on ‘thou shall not haze,’ it’s more, how do we think about the groups we’re in and the relationships we have with our teammates or with our fraternity brothers or with our band mates?” she said.
Allan is a national expert on hazing, founder of StopHazing.org and director of UMaine’s Hazing Prevention Lab.
HISTORY — Life during the American Revolution
During the American Revolution, the British Army captured and held many major cities like New York and Boston for months, if not years. In an interview with HISTORY, Liam Riordan, a UMaine professor and chair of the history department, presented a picture of what the war was like beyond battlegrounds and street protests, as Americans lived under British occupation.
“No matter your political allegiance, most people are just hunkering down and trying to survive the war without sacrificing their families,” he said.
FOX Bangor/ABC 7 News — Training with cutting-edge robotics for manufacturing
FOX Bangor/ABC 7 News joined the grand opening of UMaine’s B.O.T. Loft, a new robotics and automation training facility inside the Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC). The facility is committed to “building, optimizing and training” the manufacturing workforce in Maine and beyond. This in-demand workforce needs to know how to operate new and efficient industrial technology for everything from wood products to composite materials.
“A lot of manufacturers are hesitant to put in technology and automation unless they have a workforce that’s really trained in it,” said John Belding, director of the AMC. “Our goal is to help upscale that workforce and help train their existing workforce so that they are comfortable using robotics and automation in the workplace.”
Good Morning America — Printing affordable homes
During Earth Week, Good Morning America featured BioHome3D, the first 100% bio-based 3D-printed home in the world. Made from local wood fiber and other recyclable materials, BioHome3D was developed by the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center to address labor shortages, supply chains issues and affordable housing shortage.
“In Maine, we produce about a million tons of wood waste every year in our sawmills. So we thought, ‘How do we take that waste, and make it into something valuable?’” said ASCC executive director Habib Dagher during the interview.
Nautilus — ‘Has culture surpassed genes?’
Nautilus reported that human evolution may no longer be driven primarily by genetics, according to a new theory by UMaine researchers.
Timothy Waring and Zachary Wood argue that cultural systems are now shaping the way humans survive, adapt and reproduce. “Cultural evolution eats genetic evolution for breakfast,” Wood said. “It’s not even close.”
Maine Public — Exploring cosmic phenomena with Neil DeGrasse Tyson
Before a total lunar eclipse illuminated the night sky with an eerie red glow in Mid-March, Maine Public hosted famous astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson for a segment of its “Maine Calling” radio show on the latest astronomy news. Joining them on the call was UMaine’s own Shawn Laatsch, director of the Versant Power Astronomy Center on campus.
NPR — Origins of the word ‘broadcasting’
What is the connection between broadcasting and agriculture? UMaine’s Michael Socolow, professor of communication and journalism, got to the bottom of it with NPR for a report that explored the origins of the word “broadcasting.”
What began as a word describing a method of spreading plant seed expanded its meaning in the early 20th century as radios became the most common way for people to receive news, starting with the election of President Warren G. Harding in 1920.
“By the end of the 1930s, when you used the word ‘broadcasting,’ Americans all knew it meant radio broadcasting,” Socolow said.
Gizmodo — Tiny technology advancing nuclear generation
Gizmodo praised the tiny, but powerful sensor created by UMaine researchers to enhance monitoring capabilities and safety for next-gen nuclear reactors. These microelectronic sensors are capable of withstanding extreme environments — temperatures up to 1,832 degrees Fahrenheit and intense radiation.
Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, the Roger Clapp Castle and Virginia Averill Castle Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was the principal investigator on the project. The breakthrough positions UMaine at the forefront of high-temperature, radiation-resistant materials innovation.
CBS News — New tick species for Maine
In August, University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) confirmed the presence of a new species of tick for the state: the invasive Asian longhorned tick. The news of its detection for the first time in Maine garnered headlines nationwide, including on CBS News.
“This discovery underscores the critical importance of continued tick surveillance in Maine,” said Griffin Dill, director of the UMaine Cooperative Extension: Tick Lab. “While this appears to be an isolated case, we are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with state and federal partners.”
News Center Maine — Providing meals for those in need
News Center Maine joined hundreds of students and other volunteers as they packaged 52,920 meals to donate to people experiencing food insecurity for the Maine Day Meal Packout on April 30 at the Memorial Gym.
The event was organized by Honors College faculty, staff and students, who raised over $19,400 to purchase the meals, which were given to over two dozen food banks and pantries in Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington counties.
“It’s really wonderful to now be on this side and now see the full circle of how we get these meals to communities in need,” said Jasper Makowski, UMaine student and outreach coordinator for the Maine Day Meal Packout.
U.S. News & World Report — Growing the blue economy workforce
A story from U.S. News and World Report highlighted UMaine degrees that help prepare students for careers in the blue economy. Those include the bachelor’s degree in marine science with options to specialize in aquaculture, marine biology or physical science, MaineMBA that offers a blue economy concentration.
U.S. News interviewed Jason Harkins, executive dean of the Maine Business School, and Diane Rowland, dean of the College of Earth, Life and Health Sciences, and director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station.
Mainebiz — Reynolds gym revitalization
In April, students, regional and state leaders and other guests celebrated the reopening of the newly renovated Reynolds Gymnasium on the University of Maine at Machias campus.
Mainebiz highlighted facility updates, which include new, NCAA-compliant hardwood floor, new bleachers, upgraded scoreboards, a new sound system and other enhancements to support student and community events.
“This project represents more than just a new floor and bleachers — it represents a revitalized space for our students, faculty, staff and the wider Downeast community,” said Megan Walsh, UMaine Machias’ dean and campus director.
Associated Press — Energy and environmental cost of AI
With the use of artificial intelligence growing rapidly nationwide and the emergence of many data centers designed to support it, the Associated Press examined the impacts of the technology on our energy and the environment.
Jon Ippolito, professor of new media at UMaine, spoke to AP on the potential impact of AI and showcased his app that explores the environmental footprint of using it for different digital tasks. Ippolito said tech companies are constantly working to make chips and data centers more efficient, but that does not mean AI’s environmental impact will shrink. This story was shared in about 200 news outlets across the globe.
WMTW (ABC) — Little insect and its big threat for Maine woods
Spruce budworms are among the most destructive native forest pests in North America. Outbreaks kill trees, rendering the timber useless, increasing the risk of wildfire and causing a series of ecological effects.
In February, Angela Mech, director of UMaine’s Spruce Budworm Lab, spoke with WMTW about their destructive impact on Maine woods and efforts to curtail their damage.
“It’s normally here all the time, but in very low densities, we can’t normally find it. But about every 40 years, it explodes,” Mech said.
Newsweek — Tackling prescription drug costs with science
Researchers discovered a sustainable method to produce the key ingredient in a broad range of pharmaceuticals, which could help address high prescription drug costs in the U.S.
Thomas Schwartz, project lead and associate director of UMaine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Institute, and Philip Kersten, research collaborator from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, spoke with Newsweek about their work. They explored a new, cost-reducing pathway to produce one of these crucial building blocks, (S)-3-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone (HBL), from glucose at high concentrations and yields.
“Initial economic analysis suggests our process can be used to produce HBL much less expensively than the current process, which opens the door to producing new consumer products as well as more affordable pharmaceuticals,” Schwartz and Kersten explained.
WGME (CBS) — Improving cancer detection with AI
A research team led by two UMaine Ph.D students developed an artificial intelligence system that could make it easier and faster for doctors to identify signs of breast cancer in tissue samples, possibly preventing delays and saving lives.
Jeremy Juybari and Josh Hamilton spoke with WGME (Channel 13 in Portland) about this new tool, which introduces a deep learning architecture designed to interpret microscopic images of tissue with greater precision than conventional AI models.
“We have one part of the model that looks at a detailed resolution of an image, you can see down to the cell level,” Juybari said. “It’s not just the detailed tissue region that matters, it’s the surrounding tissue structure that also contains a lot of information that’s important for the model to figure out if this detailed region has cancer or not.”
The Independent — Safely enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers
Many people enjoy eating Thanksgiving leftovers, but without proper storage, they can lead to foodborne illness. In an article warning readers against leaving leftovers out too long, The Independent shared tips from Extension’s Gulsun Akdemir Evrendilek on how to safely enjoy Thanksgiving for a second time. In particular, the publication noted Evrendilek’s tips on reheating food and reboiling gravy.
Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu
