Angela Mech, associate professor of forest entomology at the University of Maine, received the Maine Forest Products Council’s 2025 Abby Holman Public Service Award in recognition of her passion, loyalty and dedication to Maine’s forest products industry, government and economy.
As director of UMaine’s Spruce Budworm Processing Lab, Mech has led research to support the state’s early intervention efforts and prevent a major outbreak in Maine. Her and the lab’s work has provided land and business owners, and other stakeholders, with invaluable information to make informed management decisions regarding millions of acres of Maine’s forests.
“Maine landowners are currently faced with a swiftly building spruce budworm outbreak that has the potential to devastate 6 million acres of forestland in Maine,” said Alex Ingraham, vice president of the Maine Forest Products Council and chair of the Maine Budworm Response Coalition, who nominated Mech for the award.
“If left to run its course, this outbreak is estimated to cost $794 million in lost timber and revenue per year. Fortunately, this time around, landowners are armed with a new tool called the Early Intervention Strategy. This strategy, designed by our neighbors in New Brunswick to alter outbreak dynamics, is critical because it supports healthy forests and the economy. The success of this entire effort hinges on the quality of our monitoring program, which is supported by the Maine Spruce Budworm [Processing] Lab at the University of Maine.”
