The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced on July 19 nine grants totaling more than $8 million to study and develop new approaches for the agriculture sector to adapt to and mitigate the effects of changing environmental conditions. The funding is made possible through NIFA’s Agriculture and Food […]
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Sequencing of the nuclear genome of Porphyra umbilicalis — laver or Atlantic nori — has revealed insights into how the bangiophyte red algae have thrived for over a billion years in the harshest environmental conditions — the pounding waves, baking sun and drying winds of the intertidal zone. An international research team of 50 scientists […]
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Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, spoke with Public Radio International’s “The World” for the report, “Climate change research can be risky. But not doing it is even riskier.” Mayewski has led more than 50 expeditions to places including the Antarctic, Greenland, the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau, and […]
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Paul Mayewski, director of the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, was mentioned in a Morning Sentinel article about the opening of the 20th Maine International Film Festival in Waterville. The festival opened July 14 with a showing of “The Sounding,” a psychological mystery about a woman living on an island off the […]
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Gordon Bromley, a research assistant professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, spoke with WABI (Channel 5) about an ice shelf weighing more than one trillion metric tons and measuring about the size of Delaware that recently broke off from Antarctica. Bromley, who has taken multiple research trips to the continent, said a […]
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Jacquelyn Gill, a professor of paleoecology at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Atlantic article, “It’s a mistake to focus just on animal extinctions.” Researchers state that fixating on the concept of extinction can lead scientists to overestimate the state of the planet’s health, according to the article. If a species is completely […]
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In an article promoting volunteerism, the Portland Press Herald wrote about a New England Phenology program through University of Maine Cooperative Extension called Signs of the Seasons. About 150 volunteers statewide observe and record seasonal change. There are 19 indicator species on the “watch” list, including the American toad, peepers and rockweed, according to the […]
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Sean Birkel, Maine’s state climatologist and a research assistant professor at the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News for the article, “Lots of rain, above average temperatures recorded in June in northern, eastern Maine.” Above average precipitation throughout the state over the winter and spring helped ease the […]
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Maine’s wet 2017 winter and spring eased the 2016 drought conditions, says Sean Birkel, University of Maine research assistant professor and Maine State Climatologist. Winter precipitation was 2.3 inches more than normal on a statewide average, he says, totaling 11.7 inches water equivalent. And spring precipitation was 2.5 inches above normal, totaling 12.3 inches water […]
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The Free Press and Bangor Daily News reported on an exhibit at the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast that features photography and artwork illustrating the diverse research activities of students, faculty and staff of UMaine’s Climate Change Institute. About two-thirds of the art exhibitors are current or former CCI students, including Jill Pelto, […]
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