News Releases

A photo of a foggy forest in fall

Forest-based economy, jobs focus of new university-nonprofit partnership

A $7 million grant from the National Science Foundation will fund a four-year statewide collaborative project led by the University of Maine to foster resilient forest communities in Maine.   Maine-FOREST, or Forest-based Opportunities for Resilient Economy, Sustainability and Technology, will expand the state’s research and educational capacity to connect human and ecosystem focused innovations and […]

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Photo from New Student Orientation of one of our incoming students working with a graduate research assistant in Justin Dimmel's VR lab

UMaine receives NSF award to help rural schools recruit, educate and train STEM teachers

With rural schools facing significant shortages of highly-qualified teachers, particularly those in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development will use a grant from the National Science Foundation to boost support for future and current STEM educators in rural school districts. The nearly $100,000 award […]

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A photo of the 66-foot sailboat named the Ocean Tramp

Graduate student documents Chilean research voyage with photography

The boat where Maraina Miles lived for a month was equipped with a small oven large enough for a tray of brownies, a four-burner gas stove and a mini refrigerator. Most of the perishables, such as avocados and cabbage, were stored on the top deck, kept cool by the Chilean weather and chest freezers.   Despite […]

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A photo of two students writing on an interactive monitor

Math teachers enhance instruction with support from UMaine’s RiSE Center 

Derek Bizier doesn’t teach his eighth grade math students the same way he learned in middle school — primarily through lectures. Instead, his students at Leonard Middle School in Old Town spend most of class out of their seats solving problems in small groups on large vertical whiteboards throughout the classroom. The questions students answer […]

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A photo of a person looking at a piece of wood

New study uncovers how shipworms plagued seafarers for millennia

For thousands of years, shipworms — a family of mollusks found in oceans — sank wooden vessels, ravaged wharfs and shipwrecked sailors. They even devastated the Spanish Armada in the 16th century. Exactly how they have been able to wreak such havoc has remained a mystery, until now.  A new study published in the journal […]

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A photo of two people kayaking on a lake in front of Mount Katahdin

Maine lakes are worth $14 billion, according to UMaine study

Anyone who has been to a Maine lake can feel their value — its beauty, the rich wildlife, the memories created there — but communicating that value to policy makers when they are deciding where to allocate funds for conservation can be challenging. Thanks to a University of Maine study supported by the Senator George […]

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A photo of people walking on UMaine's campus

UMaine study examines intersections between campus hazing, white supremacy

College campuses across the country are working to put an end to hazing, a form of interpersonal and community violence that is often normalized and minimized through tradition. At the same time, postsecondary institutions are grappling with legacies of racism and white supremacy rooted in similar norms and practices. A new study led by University […]

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Photo of Robert Wheeler

UMaine researcher briefs Congress on wastewater disease surveillance

A University of Maine researcher spoke in a Congressional briefing about successful efforts led by the University of Maine System to use wastewater testing to keep classes and labs open during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Robert T. Wheeler, a professor of microbiology at the University of Maine, testified May 14 as an expert witness at a […]

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