School of Biology and Ecology

Dr. Michael Kinnison and School of Biology and Ecology graduate student, Nikko Shaidani, are featured in UMaine Today for their work on red-backed salamanders. They discuss how the mainland species came to be abundant residents of almost all the Maine coastal islands and how genetic testing offers clues to their evolutionary history and diversity. https://umainetoday.umaine.edu/archives/fallwinter-2015/mysterious-islanders/ […]

Dr. Jacquelyn Gill talks about climate change, the impact of large mammals on ecosystems, and the de-extinction of the woolly mammoths in this UMaine Today feature. https://umainetoday.umaine.edu/archives/fallwinter-2015/thinking-big/  

Kristy Townsend’s scientific roots reach back to her undergraduate years at the University of Maine. “Some of the most important and formative scientific experiences in my life were when I was mentored as a young scientist and was able to work alongside faculty on novel research projects,” says Townsend, whose undergraduate research included collaboration with […]

Dr. Rebecca Holberton talks about declining migration numbers of songbirds in this UMaine Today article. Holberton: Birds of a feather don’t always migrate together  

Orono, Maine — Andrew Galimberti, an entomology graduate student at the University of Maine, was part of a research team that discovered that bigger isn’t necessarily better for a fish during an extinction event. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and UMaine found that for at least 40 million years following the last massive extinction, […]

The extinction of mammoths, ground sloths and other large plant-eaters thousands of years ago triggered shifts in global habitats and changes in ecosystems, says University of Maine paleoecologist Jacquelyn Gill. The assistant professor in the School of Biology and Ecology and the Climate Change Institute says fossils and other records from the deep past provide […]

ORONO, Maine — Males and females of many different species are often visibly different from one another. Scientists call these differences ‘sexual dimorphism‘ and it has been studied extensively by evolutionary biologists all of the way back to Charles Darwin. But what is not yet clearly understood is how these differences impact an entire ecosystem. Researchers […]

On Saturday, October 3rd, Professor Emerita Christa Schwintzer will be leading a fall plant walk along the boardwalk in Orono, located in the Rolland F. Perry City Forest. Throughout the walk participants will observe changes that plants undergo during the fall, allowing them to survive the winter and then quickly resume growth in the spring. […]

Frank Drummond, an entomology specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and a UMaine professor of insect ecology, was quoted in the NPR report, “Asian countries have Nordic berry fever, and Finland can’t keep up.” Every day, about 7,000 Thai workers search the woods of Finland and Sweden for bilberries, lingonberries and cloudberries. Using […]

The School of Biology & Ecology is pleased to present this years Friday Seminar Series schedule for fall 2015. The purpose of these seminars is to highlight an array of leading research fields and interests from professors and researches located all over the country. Seminars will be held on Fridays at 3:00 pm in 107 […]

Click on the links below to view the schedule Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology The School of Forest Resources

What: A weekly seminar-style, semi-formal gathering of ecologists (broadly defined). Students can take the class for credit (EES 590), but everyone — students, staff, faculty, and postdocs — are welcome to attend. We discuss papers, share data, do stats throwdowns, practice talks, etc. Who: Hosted by Jacquelyn Gill, Brian Olsen (SBE), Brian McGill (SBE), Tim […]

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.

School of Biology and Ecology professor, Jacquelyn Gill, is featured on the PBS series, First Peoples. The series premieres June 24th at 9pm. More information can be found here.

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.

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 […]

School of Biology and Ecology professor Jacquelyn Gill led a team from the University of Maine on a hunt for fossils in Wind Cave National Park. See the full story here.