University of Maine News

The Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation (ALSF) and University of Maine Lobster Institute will co-host the third annual Science Workshop on Sustainable Growth of the Atlantic Lobster on July 23–24 in Moncton, New Brunswick.

The purpose of the workshop is to inform stakeholders about lobster research at home and abroad and to map the way to support lobster sustainability through science.

“In 2011 and 2012, stakeholders from all sectors of the lobster fishery — fishermen, processors, buyers — participated in this workshop,” says Rick Doucet, ALSF executive director. “The conference is a great opportunity to bring those who work on the water, in processing plants or as buyers, together with leading researchers to ensure a vital and sustainable lobster industry.”

Since 1987, the University of Maine Lobster Institute has been working with and serving the lobster industry from New York to Newfoundland.

“The Lobster Institute is very pleased to be forging a stronger bond with the Atlantic Lobster Sustainability Foundation and co-hosting this year’s science workshop,” says Bob Bayer, executive director of the Lobster Institute. “Our missions are very similar. Both focus on sustaining the lobster resource that is the centerpiece of an economically significant cross-border industry.”

Registration forms are available at lobstersustainability.ca and lobsterinstitute.org.

The Portland Press Herald, WLBZ (Channel 2) and WABI (Channel 5) were among several news organizations to carry an Associated Press report on the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center connecting its offshore wind turbine to the electric grid in Castine on Thursday. VolturnUS is the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in North America. Renewable Energy News also carried a report.

A recent blog post by Sharon Kitchens on Huffington Post titled “Pollination of Maine’s Wild Blueberry Crop” contains quotes from David Yarborough, a wild blueberry specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and Frank Drummond, an entomologist and blueberry pollination expert at UMaine. The Portland Press Herald also carried the blog post recently.

The Bangor Daily News published “Climate denial: Seductive but not morally excusable,” an opinion piece by Sharon Tisher, teacher of  environmental law and energy policy at the University of Maine.

MPBN recently talked with University of Maine marine scientist Pete Jumars about his project that investigates how nonturbulent flow enters pipes, from engineered pipes to clam siphons. Jumars, a professor of marine sciences and oceanography in the School of Marine Sciences and at the Darling Marine Center, has uncovered an erroneous scientific calculation regarding flow velocity into a pipe from a larger source of water. Approaches used to estimate pumping costs of organisms living on or in the bottom of a sea or lake have thus far been based on the flawed equation.

Ronald Beard, extension educator with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant, was recently awarded the Gulf of Maine Council 2013 Visionary Award for Maine.

The award is presented annually to an individual or organization within each of the Gulf of Maine jurisdictions of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and recognizes innovation, creativity and commitment to marine protection, according to Bruce Carlisle, chairman of the Gulf of Maine Council for the Marine Environment.

Beard, who is based in Hancock County, focuses his education on community development through work with local organizations and citizens. He is also a member of the Marine Extension Team.

Members of the University of Maine swimming and diving team will attend the presentation of a $7,500 check to Spruce Run in Bangor on Thursday.

The money was raised through the inaugural Erin’s Run: 5K Road Race. This year’s race was held in Bangor in April to honor Erin McGrath Woolley, a former UMaine student, and in support of Spruce Run, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving those affected by domestic abuse.

Several swim team members competed in the race and played a major role in organizing the event.

Total funds raised during this year’s race were $15,000. Funds will also go toward a scholarship for a swim team member.

The Bangor Daily News included a travel guide by Marisue Pickering, professor emerita in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine, and her husband John Pickering, a former teacher at both Orono’s Asa Adams School and UMaine’s College of Education and Human Development, in an article about new books by Maine authors. The tourism book titled “Maine — Beyond the Usual” contains information, stories and photographs of 50 of Maine’s lesser-known tourist attractions.

Marisue Pickering, professor emerita in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine, and her husband John Pickering, a former teacher at both Orono’s Asa Adams School and UMaine’s College of Education and Human Development, have released a tourism book titled “Maine — Beyond the Usual.”

The travel guide contains information, stories and photographs of 50 of Maine’s lesser-known tourist attractions. The historic landmarks described in the book include parks, monuments, churches and sculptures suitable for adults and families, according to Maine Authors Publishing in Rockland.

More information and purchasing options are available online.

MsnNOW cited research from the University of Maine in an article about a rare blue lobster that was caught near Nova Scotia recently. According to UMaine research, the odds of catching a blue lobster in North America are about one in two million.

StateImpact Texas, a reporting project of NPR member stations, recently published the article “As offshore wind turbine launches in Maine, is Texas next?” The article states researchers in Texas are racing to catch up to offshore wind advances made by the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

University of Maine Professor of Music Emeritus Curvin “Chip” Farnham was recently inducted into the Maine Music Educators Association Hall of Fame and honored at the association’s conference.

Laura Artesani, associate professor in the Division of Music in the School of Performing Arts at UMaine, nominated Farnham for induction.

Farnham was UMaine’s director of bands and conductor of the Symphonic Band for 24 years. He also taught music education, conducting and instrumental methods courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and supervised student teachers, according to Artesani.

More information about Farnham and his induction is available online.

A University of Maine student who attend the Maine NEW Leadership Conference at UMaine was featured in a Bangor Daily News blog post titled “How a Portland woman, 21, is leading by example.” Kaitlin Cole, who is studying food science, human nutrition and political science, was one of 28 undergraduates from Maine selected to participate in the annual program of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center.

A Portland Press Herald story about producing movies in Maine cites research by Todd Gabe, University of Maine economist. Gabe’s study details the financial impact movies and photography had on the state’s economy from 2010 through 2012.

A BBC News article titled “Ancient Irish texts show volcanic link to cold weather” said researchers used ice-core data from the Greenland Ice Sheet Project to help trace the effect of volcanic eruptions on the climate. Paul Mayewski, director and distinguished Maine professor at the Climate Change Institute, is one of the leaders of the international Greenland Ice Sheet Project.

Vincent Caccese, mechanical engineering professor at the University of Maine, has been working with James Ferguson, founder of Alba-Technic in Winthrop, to create a helmet aimed at preventing traumatic brain injury, according to a Mainebiz article. The company’s helmet has been tested in UMaine’s Advanced Biomechanics Laboratory for Injury Reduction and Rehabilitation.

Jeffrey Thaler, University of Maine visiting professor of energy policy, law and ethics, spoke with the Portland Press Herald about a project that plans to have Canadian tar sands oil pumped through a pipeline to South Portland for shipment overseas. Thaler, who is not connected to the project, predicted a public information campaign will soon begin to create support for the effort.

The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported the Maine Legislature passed a comprehensive energy bill despite Gov. Paul LePage’s veto. LePage says he wants the University of Maine, rather than the Norwegian company Statoil, to have a chance to secure support from electric ratepayers for its offshore wind energy pilot project before he supports the bill.

The newest entry in the Bangor Daily News blog “Education: Future Imperfect,” by University of Maine Professor of History Howard Segal is online.

The Bangor Daily News, WLBZ (Channel 2) and WABI (Channel 5) were among several news organizations to report on the Special Olympics Summer Games that were held at the University of Maine.