UMaine News

Maine Public Broadcasting Network interviewed University of Maine Cooperative Extension entomologist and pollination expert Frank Drummond for a report about his participation in a five-year collaborative study in Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut to help Northeastern fruit growers improve pollination methods, overcome obstacles, and, in Maine, promote the use of wild, native bees by […]

The Norway, Maine, Advertiser Democrat carried an article about an underwater robotic device built by members of Laker Youth Community Action, a University of Maine Cooperative Extension 4-H community service group in southern Maine, to monitor lakes for early detection of milfoil and other invasive aquatic plants. The submersible vehicle is framed with PVC pipe […]

In his Maine Gardener column, Maine Sunday Telegram writer Tom Atwell discussed his personal involvement with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Backyard Locavore Day and garden tours Saturday, Aug. 12 in Cumberland County. He credited Extension horticulture coordinator Diana Hibbard for getting the word out, and quoted Cumberland County Extension food preservation specialist Kate […]

Foster’s Daily Democrat reported on a meeting with Maine native, current U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Kevin Concannon and University of Maine Cooperative Extension educators Barb Murphy and Frank Wertheim and others in the Partners for a Hunger-Free York County collaborative. They met in Alfred, Maine, to discuss efforts to end hunger in York County […]

A report on Maine Public Broadcasting Network radio features University of Maine Cooperative Extension professor of sustainable dairy and forage systems Rick Kersbergen, who is involved in a U.S. Department of Agriculture study on improving the marketability of organic milk. Kersbergen said the study looks at trying to decipher what forages and what pasture mixes […]

University of Maine Cooperative Extension blueberry specialist David Yarborough was interviewed for an Associated Press article about this year’s bountiful blueberry crop. The report appeared in the Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News and on Channel 6 (WCSH). Yarborough said he estimates this year’s crop will yield between 90 million to 95 million pounds of […]

The Maine Sunday Telegram interviewed University of Maine Cooperative Extension ornamental horticulturist Lois Berg Stack for a column about early blooming garden flowers. Stack said although some flowers may have blossomed early this year, plenty of late summer and fall flowers have yet to bloom. Contact: George Manlove, (207) 581-3756

The weekly Free Press of midcoast Maine interviewed University of Maine Cooperative Extension fruit and vegetable specialist David Handley about growing hops for beer. Handley said people who want to grow hops should be cautious and keep in mind that in the  early 1900s, exacerbated by the region’s moist climate, an outbreak of downy mildew […]

In a report on the advance of the emerald ash borer beetle in New England, the Portland Press Herald noted University of Maine Cooperative Extension information about the impact of the ash tree in Maine. The fruit of the ash tree provides food for animals such as quail, wild turkey, grouse, grosbeaks and other songbirds, […]

Frank Drummond, a UMaine professor of insect ecology and insect pest management and a University of Maine Cooperative Extension entomologist, was interviewed for a Portland Press Herald feature story on mason bees, which are small, passive pollinators considered more effective than honey bees. Drummond, UMaine botanist Alison Dibble, Ph.D., and graduate students Kalyn Bickerman and […]