School of Biology and Ecology

As part of an initiative in biotechnology–which concerns the application of biological techniques to medicine, agriculture, forestry, environmental science, and various industries–SBE participates in Maine’s Center for Education and Research in Biotechnology.

The School maintains a cooperative graduate program in Mammalian Genetics with The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, and is affiliated with the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, the Foundation for Blood Research, and the University of Southern Maine.

The Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit provides opportunities for training and research in fishery science. It is operated under a cooperative agreement among the University of Maine, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Biological Resource Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. Fishery unit staff are members of the School faculty.

The School of Biology and Ecology houses the National Fisheries Contaminant Research Center (a field station of the U.S.G.S.), which conducts research on aquatic pollutants.

The School maintains close ties, including both joint and cooperating faculty appointments, with the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences and the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, the Climate Change Institute, and the Department of Forest Ecosystems Science. Our faculty is also involved in the interdepartmental graduate program in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, and the Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station.

Cooperative research and educational programs are also underway with members of the staff of the Huntsman Marine Sciences Centre, St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, and the Mt. Desert Island Biological Laboratory, Salsbury Cove, Maine.

The School of Biology and Ecology is affiliated with the Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park. First year biology majors take part in an orientation course (NFA 117) at Schoodic course that introduces students to their major and informs them about important academic and other resources that are available on campus. While at Schoodic, students meet and become good friends with other biological science students, attend faculty-led outdoor workshops, visit research facilities, and explore what the coast has to offer in, and around, Acadia National Park. The relationships, and sense of community, that stem from the science-related activities carry-on as positive energy throughout the student’s time at UMaine. This allows students to feel at home in the School of Biology and Ecology as soon as their first week begins, and provides a lasting network of support as they pursue their undergraduate degree.