Economic Development

Latest UMaine Invention: Nontoxic Fiberboard

A new type of fiberboard invented by University of Maine researchers is made with nontoxic, biobased additives and is 25 percent stronger than conventional products. Most particleboard contains a formaldehyde-based binder that releases toxins into living spaces, causing health concerns. The UMaine fiberboard uses a safe, nontoxic binder of nanocellulose, a gel composed of small […]

Read more

Partnerships in Engineering Innovation: RollEase and AMC

RollEase Innovation Center in Brunswick, Maine, opened in 2014 and began taking advantage of the research and development capabilities of the University of Maine’s Advanced Manufacturing Center (AMC). The innovation center has collaborated with AMC in numerous projects — from testing products and new materials to doing new component design and running software programs to […]

Read more

Mainebiz, BDN Report on AHI Grant to Develop Land-Based Aquafarm

Mainebiz and the Bangor Daily News reported the National Science Foundation awarded $657,000 to Acadia Harvest Inc. (AHI), which is working to achieve a commercial-scale, land-based, indoor Maine seafood farm with low to zero waste. AHI will use a controlled environment to study how aspects of aquaculture can be applied to land-based agriculture, according to […]

Read more

Morning Sentinel, KJ Interview Hopkins About Maple Sugaring Season

Kathy Hopkins, a maple syrup expert with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, was quoted in a Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal article on the start of the maple sugaring season and how weather affects sap flow. After a cold winter, there is a perception that the season is starting late, but Hopkins said that […]

Read more

Boston Globe Interviews Grad Student About Ocean Acidity Research

Jesica Waller, a University of Maine graduate student, spoke about her research with The Boston Globe for the article, “Rising acid levels in oceans imperil region’s shellfish.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists found a surge of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from fossil fuels has made oceans on average 30 percent more acidic at […]

Read more

Moran Previews Apple Season for Kennebec Journal

Renae Moran, a tree fruit specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, gave her predictions on this year’s apple season for the Kennebec Journal article “Maine’s cold winter and slow-starting spring are good for apple crops, expert says.” Moran said the colder and snowier winter has been good for apples, and she is “optimistic” […]

Read more

Orchard, Brewery Recognize AgrAbility Program, Foster’s Daily Democrat Reports

Foster’s Daily Democrat published a University of Maine news release about Doles Orchard in Limington and Portland-based Allagash Brewing Co. donating money to Maine AgrAbility. Doles Orchard owners Nancy and Earl Bunting began working with Allagash in 2010 when brewers inquired about purchasing their sour cherries to use in a fermented beer. The farmers have […]

Read more

Stack’s Trade Show Talk Cited in Press Herald Maine Gardener Column

Lois Berg Stack, an ornamental horticulture specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, spoke at the 2015 New England Grow trade show in Boston, according to the latest column in the Portland Press Herald’s Maine Gardener series. Stack spoke about research she is conducting on what native plants are most beneficial to bees and […]

Read more

AHI Awarded $657,000 to Develop Land-Based Aquafarm

The National Science Foundation awarded $657,000 to Acadia Harvest Inc. (AHI), which is working to achieve a commercial-scale, land-based, indoor Maine seafood farm with low to zero waste. AHI, which formed in 2011, has conducted collaborative research at the University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research (CCAR) in Franklin, to advance the technology of […]

Read more

Down East Magazine Interviews Redmond About Edible Seaweed

Sarah Redmond, a marine extension associate with the Maine Sea Grant College Program at the University of Maine, was quoted in Down East magazine’s article “Kelp: It’s What’s for Dinner,” published in the March 2015 issue. Redmond said when most people think of seaweed, they picture plants that have been washed up on the beach. […]

Read more