Climate Change Institute

December 7, 2021 Mercury exposure is related to a 10% decrease in nest survival in two tidal marsh songbird species surveyed in four states, from Maine to New Jersey, according to a new University of Maine-led study. These species have been experiencing sharp declines in this region due to sea level rise-related habitat loss and, […]

Maine Public interviewed Ivan Fernandez, a University of Maine professor of soil science and forest resources, about the state’s climate action plan, Maine Won’t Wait, for a recent segment of “Maine Calling.” Fernandez, co-chair of the Maine Climate Council’s Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, joined Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation & […]

Maine Public, Mainebiz, News Center Maine, the Bangor Daily News, the Portland Press Herald and WABI (Channel 5) reported on Gov. Janet Mills’s recent conference at the University of Maine, where she announced new climate change funding initiatives and celebrated the one-year anniversary of Maine’s four-year climate plan, Maine Won’t Wait. During the gathering, Mills […]

Kimberly Miner, a research assistant professor with the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, will participate in the panel STEAM Superstars on Nov. 27 during San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition. Miner, a UMaine alumna who also is a scientist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, will join other women scientists and engineers who incorporate art and […]

The Board of the University of the Arctic (UArctic) has selected Prof. Karl Kreutz for the position of UArctic Chair in Arctic Ice, Climate and Environmental History.   

On the north coast of Peru, researchers have discovered the oldest adobe architecture in the Americas, constructed with ancient mud bricks carved from natural clay deposits created by floods caused by El Nino. The pre-Hispanic bricks — carved from sedimentary layers versus created by mixing clay, temper and water — date the invention of adobe […]

The Bangor Daily News highlighted Allessandro Mereghetti’s analysis of coprolites — also called fossilized feces — from Siberia that date back to the last ice age. These coprolites, according to the Ph.D. student in ecology and environmental sciences at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, will give insights into which animals lived there more […]

A University of Maine archaeological survey team has received a grant from the Maine Historical Preservation Commission to use technology to update the status of four prehistoric coastal shell middens in Lincoln County that are now on the National Register of Historic Places. The $23,000 MHPC grant, which has been matched by UMaine, supports a […]

Scientists studying how human activity alters the Earth use the term “Anthropocene” to describe a generalized period of time in which humanity has impacted the planet through landform and ecosystem alteration, species eradication, climate change and more. Yet Anthropocene has no concrete scientific definition, resulting in it being given several conflicting meanings that cause confusion […]

A University of Maine archaeological survey team has received a grant from the Maine Historical Preservation Commission to use technology to update the status of four prehistoric coastal shell middens in Lincoln County that are now on the National Register of Historic Places. The $23,000 MHPC grant, which has been matched by UMaine, supports a […]