Forestry and the Environment

Students walk along the Mall during fall

High student demand prompts implementation of UMaine waitlist for fall admission

The University of Maine’s commitment to affordability, strategic investments in signature strengths and aggressive marketing have paid off. With a record number of qualified applications for fall 2016, UMaine will begin notifying most students who have applied and not yet been accepted that they have the option to be wait-listed for admission consideration. “The interest in […]

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Larval spruce budworm

Maine Spruce Budworm Task Force to release risk assessment, response plan

In advance of the next predicted eastern spruce budworm outbreak, officials with the University of Maine, Maine Forest Service and Maine Forest Products Council have published a risk assessment and disaster preparedness plan to keep forest landowners, government officials and the general public informed. The report includes an assessment of the last outbreak and how […]

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Researchers study waistband for attaching radio transmitters to amphibians

In an attempt to improve how amphibians are monitored, University of Maine researchers evaluated a waistband for attaching external radio transmitters to frogs and toads. Radio telemetry provides fine-scale temporal and spatial information about an animal’s movements and habitat use; however, its use for tracking amphibians has been restricted by transmitter mass and lack of […]

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National Park Service video features dragonfly mercury project founded at UMaine

The National Park Service recently released an “Outside Science (inside parks)” video featuring a dragonfly mercury research project that was founded at the University of Maine. “Episode 2: Blue Skies and Dragonflies” explores a research collaboration among UMaine, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Park Service to study mercury in dragonfly larvae. The project […]

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UMaine Woodsmen’s Team to host home meet Feb. 20

The University of Maine Woodsmen’s Team will host its annual home meet of classic Maine logging games on Saturday, Feb. 20. Starting at 8 a.m., the UMaine team will compete against groups from Paul Smith’s College, Unity College, University of New Hampshire, Colby College and University of Vermont. The meet will be held at Libby […]

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Forestry students aid policy development for Maine’s Local Wood WORKS initiative

Local Wood WORKS (LWW) is a new initiative designed to promote sustainable timber harvesting and forest products around Maine. LWW’s mission is to advance forest-based local economies and support the long-term conservation and sustainability of Maine’s woodlands. Students in SFR 446: Forest Resource Policy are working with LWW partners and consultant Harold Burnett of Winthrop-based […]

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Ben Brown

Benjamin Brown: Using new media, forestry skills to aid workers in woods

Growing up in a family of foresters, University of Maine new media student Benjamin Brown knew firsthand the challenges of working in the Maine woods. During high school, the Norway, Maine native chose to experience the trade himself. He went to work with his father and brothers driving a skidder. “That entails getting in a […]

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tree needles with water drop

New issue of UMaine Today magazine online

The Fall/Winter 2015 issue of UMaine Today magazine is now available online. Feature articles focus on the state’s potato breeding program, preparing for the next spruce budworm outbreak, salamanders on Maine islands, protecting ecosystems with the restoration of large species and UMaine’s new ocean engineering research facility.

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Tallest American chestnut tree in North America discovered in Lovell, Maine

Foresters with the Maine Forest Service and the University of Maine have measured what is believed to be the tallest American chestnut, Castanea dentata, tree in North America, exceeding the height of the next-tallest known tree by a full 20 feet. The 115-foot-tall tree is growing in a reserved forest in Lovell, Maine on land […]

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NSF Awards UMaine Grads $225,000 to Create Eco-Friendly Thermal Insulation Foam Board

An Orono-based company founded by two University of Maine graduates has been awarded $224,996 from the National Science Foundation to create a prototype for the first completely eco-friendly thermal insulation foam board. Nadir Yildirim, a graduate of UMaine’s innovation engineering program and current Ph.D. student in the Wood Science and Technology Program in the School […]

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