Press Herald cites Kirby, Smart in article about plant pests and cold weather

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

January 22, 2018 Cooperative Extension, UMaine in the News

The Portland Press Herald spoke with Clay Kirby and Alcyn Smart for an article about the recent below-zero temperatures effect on plant pests. Kirby, a pest management specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said that many pests live in a layer of fallen leaves and twigs below the snow and ice. According to Kirby, the temperature of this layer, insulated by the overlying snow, can be much warmer than the sub-zero air temperatures above. “The snow can be considered insulation for them,” said Kirby, and as a result, ticks and other soil-living pests will probably not be impacted by the recent cold snap in any significant way. The temperatures effect on plant diseases is much less. Smart, a UMaine Extension plant pathologist, said that the cold will likely have no effect on pathogens whatsoever. “Basically, if the plant is still living, then the pathogen is still living,” said Smart. The fungi that cause many plant diseases create a protective web that helps guard against the cold temperatures, and soil-borne pathogens are protected beneath the soil and the insulating layer of snow. Not all pests, however, were impervious to the extreme cold. The article states that populations of both the invasive gypsy and winter moth, as well as the hemlock woolly adelgid, may have been reduced due to the cold.