Continued development and dissemination of outreach materials on the risks and regulations associated with moving potentially infested firewood are essential to reduce the spread of invasive forest pests, according to University of Maine researchers. How campers’ knowledge of forest insects affects the transportation of firewood is the focus of a recent study led by John […]
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In 2018, volunteers statewide in the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Maine Harvest for Hunger program donated 231,752 pounds of produce directly to neighbors in need and to 187 sites, including food pantries, soup kitchens and low-income senior centers. The monetary value of the produce donated is estimated at almost $400,000. More than 500 volunteers, […]
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As part of an interdisciplinary team examining ways to reduce food waste in Maine, a researcher in the University of Maine School of Economics and his undergraduate student assistant recently were awarded $17,000 from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for a startup composting program in the midcoast region. The funds will help implement […]
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A survey indicated that faculty who were harassed at an unspecified public university told friends, family and colleagues about their experiences far more frequently than they did campus human resources officials. The faculty members — who were aware of the university’s harassment policies — said they were dissatisfied with how their complaints were handled when […]
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John N. Diamond, a longtime higher education official from Maine, has been selected as the 2018 recipient of the nation’s top award for higher education advocacy and state relations. On Thursday, Diamond, currently president and executive director of the University of Maine Alumni Association, received the Marvin D. “Swede” Johnson Achievement Award in Atlanta as […]
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Children in Alaska whose diet includes a lot of fish from rivers fed by the Eastern Alaska Mountain Range may have a long-term elevated risk for cancer because of insecticides — including DDT — in the meltwater. Even with low levels of organochlorine pollutants (OCPs) in glacial meltwater, the risk of cancer for youth and […]
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Educators have long recognized the power of poetry to inspire an enduring passion for language in children. But over time, poetry instruction for beginning readers has declined in favor of other teaching methods. Now, some scholars are trying to revive it. In an article, “Why Poetry for Reading Instruction? Because It Works!” published in the […]
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Ecological traps have the potential to effectively control pest species and inhibit the spread of infectious diseases, according to a University of Maine researcher. A recently published study led by Allison Gardner, an assistant professor of arthropod vector biology at UMaine, provides new insights into how ecological traps, which occur when organisms show preference for […]
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Warming and cooling of tropical Pacific sea surface waters in the fall and winter can help predict the timing of spring ice-out dates in lakes across Maine and the North American region, according to recent studies by University of Maine researchers. The ability to predict the timing of lake ice out at least a season […]
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The perception of glacial water as cold and pristine isn’t reality, says Kimberley Miner. At least the pristine part. The research assistant professor with the University of Maine Climate Change Institute found pesticide pollutants — including the insecticide DDT — in a remote Alaskan glacier and its meltwater. Pesticides that contain organochlorine compounds (OCPs) are […]
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