UMaine Announces Creation of Center for Research on Sustainable Forests
Contact: Charlene Herrick (207) 581-3204; David Munson (207) 581-3777
ORONO, Maine — The UMaine System Board of Trustees recently approved the establishment of the new Center for Research on Sustainable Forests.
The new center will offer forestry and environmental researchers both on and off campus with new opportunities for research and collaboration, complimenting the efforts of the recently created School of Forest Resources.
“The center is intended to help encourage interdisciplinary research on the Maine forest, providing researchers with a means to work together,” said UMaine College of Natural Science, Forestry and Agriculture Dean Bruce Wiersma, who will be taking the reins as the center’s founding director. “The center is made up of two major components: the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit, a longtime provider of applied forestry research, and the congressionally authorized Northern States Research
Cooperative, which includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. The center’s efforts will be dedicated to the biology and productivity of the Maine forest itself.”
The virtual center will bring together dozens of UMaine researchers toward the common goal of forest health and productivity, and will award $350,000 in research funding per year for projects that investigate a broad range of forest-related issues. The Center for Research on Sustainable Forests will be located in Nutting Hall on the UMaine campus in Orono.