School of Biology and Ecology

School of Biology and Ecology students Stephanie Faranda and Gabriella Sanchez spent the first week of their spring break volunteering in Virginia at Liberty Hall Farm Animal Sanctuary as a part of UMaine’s Alternative Breaks program.  Alternative Breaks is a non-profit, volunteer, student lead organization that promotes community involvement. “It was cool to broaden my […]

School of Biology and Ecology graduate student Jenny Shrum is trying to understand the relationship between weather and the flow of maple sap, and she is not the only one interested in this topic.  Her research has stirred up a variety of media coverage’s including features on WABI-TV, Portland Press Herald, Penobscot Times, BostonGlobe.com, and […]

SBE students Stacie Poulin and Courtney Horton spent four days of their Spring Break at Camp Sunshine, a free camp for kids with life threatening illnesses as well as their families.  The session the two attended was for children of infancy to teenagers with an oncology, hematology, or a mixed diagnosis.  This camp is a […]

Scholarship opportunity from the Penobscot Valley Chapter of Maine Audubon! The Penobscot Valley Chapter of Maine Audubon (PVC) invites enrolled University of Maine students to apply for the 2014 Inez Boyd Environmental Research Award.  The award is named in honor of the late Inez Boyd, one of the chapter’s original founders, a lifelong environmentalist, and […]

A paper published by Dr. Michelle Smith in the December 2013 issue of CBE–Life Sciences Education was recently highlighted in the Editors’ Choice section of Science. The  publication introduces a protocol for documenting student and instructor behavior in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses.  The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) can be […]

College of Natural Science, Forestry & Agriculture will be holding a Graduate Student Research Awards Competition on February 27th in Room 57, Stodder Hall! SBE Graduate Students Corianne Tatariw and Eric Venturini will be presenting between 11 and 12. Faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to attend!     Schedule: 10:00 Opening  10:10 The […]

Spring 2014 Seminar Series Mondays from 12-1 pm in 204 Nutting Hall  Jan. 27: George Jacobson, University of Maine Climate Change Institute. “Some perspectives on the real challenges for global and regional conservation” Feb. 3: Daniel Stich, UMaine Department of Wildlife Ecology.  “Grass carp in the new world: aspirations, abundance, and apparitions” Feb. 10: Mike Eichholz, […]

Seminars will be held on Fridays at 3:10 pm in Murray Hall, Room 102 unless otherwise noted.  Light refreshments will be served at 3:00 pm.   School of Biology and Ecology Spring 2014 Seminar Series Schedule Jan. 17:  Andrea Nurse, M.S., Climate Change Institute, “Cypripedium arietinum: Challenges for rare plant conservation in a changing climate.” […]

We would like to thank everyone that participated in this years SBE Silent Benefit Auction, it was a huge success!  This year we raised $554.00 dollars, which shattered our previous records for raising funds for charity.  The donations collected will go towards supporting the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter and Ann’s House for Women! You can […]

SBE would like to extend a warm welcome to Dr. Vivian Panes, a visiting researcher from the Philippines spending six months at the University of Maine, conducting research in Dr. Benildo de los Reyes’ molecular genetics lab. Dr. Panes is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Ateneo de Manila in Quezon City, […]

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL SBE 2013 NEWSLETTER One hundred and sixty first-year students entered the University of Maine this September as majors in the School of Biology and Ecology (SBE), even more than last year.  One of the SBE’s greatest challenges is to serve an increasing number of undergraduate students, both majors and […]

Maureen Correll, SBE Ph.D student in Brian Olsen’s lab, was featured  for participating in a ten state wide study under the National Science Foundation Saltmarsh Habitat and Avian Research program to assess the damage Hurricane Sandy had on the bird communities in coastal marshes.  She is also working on the project as part of her […]

Support our local Charities! Participate in the 2013 SBE Silent Benefit Auction! Bring in your donated items to Becky Holberton, Rm 221 Murray Hall by November 8th. All items will be on display in the Murray Hall Foyer.  The bidding will begin in Murray Hall at noon Monday, November 11 and ends at noon on […]

Dr. Michelle Smith, SBE Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, is the lead investigator on four projects and co-principal investigator on another.  She aims to improve nationwide science instruction and assessments, and was granted $6.8 million in total funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The projects, three of which are in collaboration with other universities, […]

The Maine Physical Sciences Partnership has an employment opportunity for undergraduates students in STEM (sceince, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.  They are recruiting for the Maine Learning Assistant Program and need to fill 22 paid positions in STEM courses for next spring.  These courses include: Bio 350: Concepts of Genetics, ERS 201: Global Enviromental change, […]

MPBN television will be broadcasting a documentary entitled “Preserving Paradise” featuring SSI researchers focussing on the alternative futures of modelling research, as well as new mapping tools in order to allow for “smarter” development across the state. The Alternative Futures Team, based at the University of Maine and University of Maine School of Law, uses […]

Adrienne Leppold’s migratory bird research featured in the October issue of Downeast Magazine! Check it out here.

SBE welcomed our first Seminar speaker of the year, Dr. Susan Rundell Singer, director of the Division of Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation, to speak on learning engineers and STEM education reform.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.  Singer is also a Professor of Natural Sciences at Carleton College. “Dr. Singer […]

Dr. Frank Drummond’s research on honey bee foraging patterns and colony dynamics was cited in the recent special issue on U.S. Food Production in the magazine, Scientific American. The article, entitled “The mind-boggling math of migratory beekeeping” addresses the vulnerability of many large-scale bee pollinated crop production systems to disruption of the supply of honey […]