College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences

In early October, Bob Steneck sets sail from Christmas Cove, Maine to the Caribbean to research resilience of coral reefs adjacent to the Antilles islands. The professor of marine sciences at the University of Maine, who is based at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine, is on sabbatical this academic year. With funding from […]

Dr. Winifred Holmes Griffin took on many roles during her lifetime. Not only was she a professional nurse with a lifelong medical career, she was also an avid student, a proponent of women’s rights, a beloved relative, and an active member of the Maine community. She was best known for her creativity, compassion, and determination. […]

In the wake of dramatic glacier retreat and ice shelf collapses on the Western Antarctic Peninsula, a University of Maine marine scientist will explore how Antarctic corals, which provide habitat for thousands of connected species, cope with warming ocean water. Rhian Waller, an associate research professor in the School of Marine Sciences, received a National […]

A University of Maine wildlife ecologist will use a $1.49 million National Science Foundation grant to improve protection of small natural landscape features that significantly impact the larger ecosystem. The four-year project, “Of Pools and People,” will inform conservation management of relatively tiny natural resources — such as vernal pools, prairie potholes and desert springs […]

Water clarity, a strong indicator of water quality, is deteriorating in Maine lakes, according to a University of Maine graduate student’s study. The decline, says Ian McCullough, may be a trend toward eutrophication — a process in which excess nitrates and phosphates, generally due to fertilizers and sewage, stimulate growth of algae, which depletes oxygen […]

The University of Maine is one of 17 recipients to split $16 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to fund projects related to efficiently capturing energy from waves, tides and currents. The projects are expected to increase the power production and reliability of wave and tidal devices and help collect data on how deployed […]

In an effort to raise awareness about invasive forest pests, two University of Maine students will survey campers about their firewood use at Lamoine State Park and several private campgrounds on Mount Desert Island Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 22–24. Laura Brehm, an ecology and environmental sciences student, and Sally Peckenham, a nursing student, have been […]

Eating 2 cups of wild blueberries a day for two months can reduce chronic inflammation, improve metabolism of fat and lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, according to research by a University of Maine clinical nutritionist. Additionally, UMaine professor Dorothy Klimis-Zacas says a diet enriched with the fruit can normalize gene expression of inflammatory markers and […]

The Harold L. Chute DVM Center for Equine Research and Education was dedicated at its official opening Aug. 19 at the J.F. Witter Teaching and Research Center at the University of Maine. Harold Chute was a UMaine professor of animal and veterinary sciences for more than 22 years. Chute, who died in 2008, also wrote […]

Editor’s note: A narrated slideshow about the collaborative research by UMaine, Dartmouth and the University of New Hampshire is online. University of Maine climate change scientist Karl Kreutz seeks to glean insight into future sea level rise on the planet. To do that, this past spring he was part of a research team that hiked […]