News and Announcements

Smith Featured in UMaine Today

School of Biology and Ecology professor, Michelle Smith, is featured in the Spring/Summer 2015 issue of UMaine Today. Smith’s work on active learning in large enrollment courses is at the forefront of current science education research. Read the full article here.

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SBE Team Working to Increase Bee Habitat

Alison Dibble, Lois Stack, Megan Leech, and Frank Drummond are featured in a UMaine News story about their efforts to plant pollinator demonstration gardens that will be used for educating farmers and the communities. Read the full story here.

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A Look Back: Edith Patch, UMaine’s First Female Entomologist

Edith Patch, head of the University of Maine entomology in the early 1900s, was profiled recently by the UMaine News. Jennifer Lund, a recipient of the School of Biology and Ecology 2015 Edith Patch Award, was interviewed for the article. “I am so very honored to win an award that is named after such a […]

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A Love for Science, Bread and Everything in Between

As undergraduates filed into their seats in 107 DPC for their last introduction to neuroscience lecture, former students and fellow faculty members filled in the back row. An email had circulated throughout various departments that professor Harold (Dusty) Dowse, would be giving his last formal lecture at the University of Maine. Like he did in […]

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Frank Drummond Receives UMaine Cooperative Extension Faculty Research Award

Congratulations to Dr. Frank Drummond, professor of Insect Ecology and Insect Pest Management, on receiving the UMaine Cooperative Extension Faculty Research Award. Drummond is recognized for over 25 years of applied research in agriculture and natural resource management and 15 years with a Cooperative Extension appointment.  His integration of teaching, service and research has created […]

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Visiting Scholar from India, Amandeep Kaur, aims to improve rice bran quality

Amandeep Kaur, a visiting scholar from India, is currently performing research in Dr. Benildo de los Reyos’ functional genomics lab.  Kaur is pursuing her Ph.D. in plant breeding and genetics.  She arrived at the University of Maine on Dec. 15 and will be performing research for one year. Her research, titled “Allele mining for phospholipase […]

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2015 SBE Graduate Research Exposition Winners

Graduate students from all disciplines presented their work and competed for thousands of dollars at the 2015 Grad-Expo on April 2nd & 3rd in the University of Maine’s Innovative Media Research and Commercialization Center (IMRC).Many graduate students from The School of Biology & Ecology participated in the event and emerged as winners. Maureen Correll, a […]

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2015 SBE Awards Ceremony

The School of Biology & Ecology recognized distinguished undergraduate and graduate students at the Seventh Annual Recognition Ceremony on April 22 in Murray Hall.  Congratulations to all award winners!   School of Biology & Ecology Student Awards, Prizes, and Scholarships 2015   SBE Academic Awards Highest GPA in a major within the School First Year […]

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NSFA 2015 Graduate Student Research Awards Competition

The public recently gathered in Stodder Hall to attend the Graduate Student Research Awards Competition, where selected graduate students from different majors at the University of Maine in the School of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture presented their own research on topics varying from the role of zooplankton in the biological carbon pump to eco-friendly […]

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NSFA 2015 Faculty Award Winners

Seanna Annis, associate professor of mycology, has been awarded the 2015 Outstanding Public Service Award from the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. Her research laboratory examines the genetic diversity, physiology and molecular biology of various fungal pathogens and applied aspects of control of fungi that attack low-bush blueberry plants. Annis maintains a network […]

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SBE Faculty Members Receive Promotions

Congratulations to  School of Biology and Ecology faculty members that have been approved by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees for promotion and/or tenure.  The faculty were nominated by President Susan J. Hunter based on a peer and administrative review of their teaching, research and public service.   Brian J. McGill has been […]

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2015 Brain Awareness Week

The University of Maine Neuroscience community celebrated Brain Awareness Week this Thursday, an international celebration of brain research, by tabling in the student union distributing educational pamphlets, stickers, pencils and other materials to anyone who wished to learn more about the brain. Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign, which aims to increase public awareness […]

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Making History One Species at a Time

Making History One Species at a Time In a research laboratory tucked away on the second floor of Deering Hall at the University of Maine, a researcher has been changing the world of science as we know it. Her office is lined with shelves busy with textbooks, papers and scientific journals that make the room […]

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The John M. Rezendes Annual Ethics Essay Contest

Submissions are currently being accepted for the 2014-2015 John M. Rezendes Annual Ethics Essay Contest sponsored by The Honors College. Writers are encouraged to focus on this year’s topic, “The Ethics of Energy, Ecology and the Environment” Possible topics include the Ethics of Energy, Ecology, and the Environment and… Genetic Engineering Globalization Resource Distribution Fracking […]

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Learning from Natural Disaster

Hurricane Sandy, the most deadly storm of the 2012 hurricane season, not only left a lingering path of destruction for our human populations…but also dramatically impacted tidal marsh habitats of birds along the east coastline. Brian Olsen, assistant professor of biology and ecology, has begun gauging restoration of these habitats that was devastated by the […]

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A Scientific Approach to Education

When Michelle Smith emerged from graduate school and began interviewing for postdoctoral research positions, she was flooded with the realization that her passion was no longer in biological research.  After receiving  her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Washington, she decided to pursue a three-year long science teaching fellowship at the University of Colorado. […]

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