Climate Change Institute

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 […]

Sean Birkel, Maine state climatologist and research assistant professor at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute, was featured on a recent segment of “Maine Calling” by Maine Public about how climate change is affecting severe weather in the state. The program is part of Maine Public’s new series “Climate Driven: A Deep Dive into […]

The University of Maine was among colleges and universities worldwide receiving top honors for its sustainability efforts from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). UMaine was one of the 16 top performers nationally and internationally in the Grounds category, one of AASHE’s sustainability impact areas, focused on campus land management, […]

The University of Maine’s Juneau Icefield Research Program and its director of academics and research, Seth Campbell, are profiled in a new book debuting Nov. 2 by award-winning journalist Porter Fox. “The Last Winter: The Scientists, Adventurers, Journeymen, and Mavericks Trying to Save the World,” published by Little, Brown and Company, tells the story of […]

Since its first recorded sighting by European explorers in the 1600s, scientists and historians have believed that Europeans were the first people to ever set foot on the Falkland Islands. Findings from a new University of Maine-led study, however, suggests otherwise; that human activity on the islands predates European arrival by centuries. Kit Hamley, National […]