School of Biology and Ecology

Dr. Andrei Alyokhin, Professor of Entomology and Director of School of Biology and Ecology, received Communication Award from The National Association of County Agricultural Agents. The award was given for developing a learning module entitled Unifying Resistance Management Education.

Dr. Michelle Smith, who holds a C. Ann Merrifield Professorship in Life Science Education in the School of Biology and Ecology, will spearhead a project to improve first-year students’ transition from high school classes to college courses in the same subjects. Nation-wide data indicate that less than 50% of first-year undergraduates who start in science, technology, […]

Text below is an excerpt from UMaine News Update. The browntail moth is an invasive species that was introduced into northeastern North America in the late 1800s. In the past several years, the population and range of the browntail moth has grown significantly, with more than 24,000 acres in Maine defoliated by their caterpillars in […]

University of Maine researchers, including doctoral student Brianne Du Clos and her advisor Dr. Frank Drummond, have developed a tool called “BeeMapper” that will allow blueberry growers to assess the predicted wild bee abundance in the landscape surrounding their crop fields. Knowing the numbers and types of wild bees in the surrounding landscape will help growers […]

Elisabeth “Betsy” Trenkmann, Michelle Smith, the Master of Science Teaching program, Orono High School, and Murray Hall were all featured in this Channel 5 News piece http://wabi.tv/2017/05/09/ahead-of-umaine-graduation-future-teacher-stands-out-among-peers/ For more information, please refer to the University of Maine press release: https://umaine.edu/news/blog/2017/05/10/elizabeth-trenckmann-seeking-inspire-high-schoolers/

SBE Academic Awards Highest GPA in a major within the School First Year Bailey Carter Ryan M. LaGross Hilary A. Merrifield Sophomore Emily R. Gagne Emma R. Garner Lucia D. Guarnieri Junior Tyler J. Lang Jacqueline R. Lambert Callie W. Greco Senior Willow S. Bates Kaitlin E. Clark School of Biology & Ecology Academic Achievement […]

Betsy Trenckmann, a graduate student advised by Dr. Michelle Smith, won both the best presentation in the education category, as well as the Presidential Research Impact Award! The Research Impact award is given to both the graduate student and his/her advisor in recognition of research that has a potentially significant impact to the people of […]

May 2017 issue of The Scientist magazine contains a cover story by Jef Akst entitled “Evolution’s Quick Pace Affects Ecosystem Dynamics.” The article discusses in great detail research on contemporary evolution conducted in Dr. Michael Kinnison’s laboratory.

Elizabeth Kilroy received a prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. She is working in Clarissa Henry’s lab on developing effective therapies for muscular dystrophy. Full story is available on the University of Maine website.

Amanda Klemmer is featured as an arising new researcher in an open-access article entitled Breaking Through Ecosystem Boundaries published by The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America.

Dr. Kristy Townsend will be the featured scientist at the You’re the Expert event, headlining the Maine Science Festival on Saturday, March 18. This is a national public radio show and podcast out of Boston/Cambridge, featuring three comedians questioning a scientist. Tickets are available for purchase.

Elizabeth Kilroy is a second-year doctoral student in the University of Maine Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering (GSBSE) working under the guidance of Dr. Clarissa Henry. She is investigating genetics of muscular dystrophy, which is a group of genetic disorders that can cause progressive muscle weakness and wasting. Kilroy’s close family members are […]

Jasmine Saros, Professor at School of Biology and Ecology and Climate Change Institute, led the UMaine research team on the multidisciplinary research project in the Kangerlussuaq region of Greenland that studied the complex ecological interactions in the deglaciated landscape. The team also included postdoctoral research associate Robert Northington, and graduate students Benjamin Burpee and Rachel […]

Dr. Francis Drummond is this year’s recipient of the College of Natural Sciences, Food, and Agriculture – Agriculture Award. Throughout his long and distinguished career, Dr. Drummond worked with the two most important industries in the state: potatoes and blueberries. He has developed an extensive and very diverse research program that uses a variety of […]

Dr. Farahad Dastoor is this year’s recipient of the NSFA Outstanding Teaching Award. Dr. Dastoor is a primary instructor for the introductory Biology sequence, BIO 100 and BIO 200. BIO 100 is one of the foundational courses at the College of Natural Sciences, Food, and Agriculture. Taken annually by close to 900 students, it is […]

Caitlin McDonough MacKenzie will complete a project titled, “Conservation Challenges for Tundra Refugia under Climate Change: A Paleoecological Perspective on Subalpine and Alpine Vegetation in Maine” under the academic mentorship of Dr. Jacquelyn Gill at University of Maine and in partnership with Dr. Abe Miller-Rushing at the National Park Service. The Smith Fellowship, the nation’s […]

This is a reprint from the UMaine News feed ( January 23, 2017). Click here to see the original. For tens of thousands of years, the warm, sticky natural asphalt that occasionally bubbled to the Earth’s surface in the area now called Los Angeles was a death sentence for some ice age animals. Woolly mammoths, […]

This is a reprint from the UMaine News feed ( January 23, 2017). Click here to see the original. After one of Michelle Smith’s recent genetics classes at the University of Maine, several students approached her to compliment the lesson. “I wish that happened to me every time I teach a class,” says Smith, an […]

School of Biology and Ecology Spring Seminar Series presents: “Inferring biotic interactions over the late Quaternary, and implications for the future” by Dr. Melissa Pardi from the University of New Hampshire.  Friday, February 3, 2017 at 3:15 p.m. in 107 Norman Smith Hall. For information, please contact Dr. Danielle Levesque (danielle.l.levesque@maine.edu, 207-581-2511). All are welcome! Refreshments […]

School of Biology and Ecology Spring Seminar Series presents: SBE FACULTY RESEARCH SHOWCASE 2017 Friday, January 20, 2017 at 3:15 p.m. in 107 Norman Smith Hall. For information, please contact Dr. Danielle Levesque (danielle.l.levesque@maine.edu, 207-581-2511). All are welcome! Refreshments served at 3:00 p.m. If you are a person with a disability and need an accommodation to […]