Air and water quality monitoring and related research that have informed effective environmental policy in the United States in the past 25 years, reducing adverse effects of pollutants on humans and ecosystems, need to continue as part of fact-based decision-making, according to a team of 11 senior researchers, including a University of Maine scientist. Documentation […]
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The first checklist of Maine bees has been compiled using wild blueberry research records from the 1800s to the present, as well as private and public collections, and citizen science observations. It has documented a total of 278 species — all but eight of which are native, according to a scientific team led by University […]
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An assistant professor of neurobiology at the University of Maine has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the American Heart Association for a three-year study looking at the aging of fat tissue and its effects on cardiovascular and metabolic conditions. Kristy Townsend, an expert on brain-adipose communication, energy balance regulation and cardiometabolic disease, received a […]
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Mehdi Tajvidi knows that big things can come in small packages. He works with cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) — the natural structural building units of wood that are 1/100,000th the width of a human hair. The University of Maine assistant professor of renewable nanomaterials describes CNF as magical. The renewable biodegradable material has superior properties, he […]
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Reports in recent years that marine protected areas (MPAs) aren’t effective in saving coral reefs from the damaging effects of global climate change have led some to argue that such expensive interventions are futile. But a study that spanned 700 kilometers of the eastern Caribbean reveals that MPAs can, indeed, help coral reefs. Robert Steneck, […]
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Research led by two University of Maine professors aims to provide a greater understanding of the mechanisms by which soils adsorb phosphate and maintain it in plant-available forms to increase the sustainability of agriculture in the United States. Tsutomu Ohno, a professor of soil chemistry, and M. Susan Erich, a professor of plant and soil […]
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The Thwaites Glacier in remote West Antarctica is losing 50 billion tons of ice a year and polar scientists say it could collapse within decades. The resulting rapid sea-level rise would increase vulnerability for 40 percent of the world’s population — approximately 3 billion people — living within 60 miles of the coast. So reducing […]
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Helping rural communities retain and attract young residents is the goal of a three-year study being led by the University of Maine. The project seeks to understand the goals and aspirations of middle- and high-school students in traditionally forest-dependent communities in Maine and Oregon. Researchers will look at economic restructuring, community characteristics, and young people’s […]
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More than 1,300 undergraduate and graduate students presented their work during the third annual University of Maine Student Symposium held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on April 17. The free public event, which was organized by UMaine Graduate Student Government and the Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) as part of Maine Impact Week, […]
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An analysis of more than 2,000 college classes in science, technology, engineering and math has imparted a lesson that might resonate with many students who sat through them: Enough with the lectures, already. Published March 29 in the journal Science, the largest-ever observational study of undergraduate STEM education monitored nearly 550 faculty as they taught more […]
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