Press Releases

• Researchers at Acadia Trace Mercuty Through Forests, Streams
  March 7, 2007
  Contact: Sarah Nelson, 207/581-3254
  While Acadia National Park is often perceived as remote and pristine, the park's fish, wildlife, and human visitors are vulnerable to mercury contamination that persists throughout North America. New research has documented that fish, amphibians, and even tree swallows from Acadia carry heavy burdens of mercury...more

• Award-winning water scientist to speak at UMaine
  Contact: Ruth Hallsworth, 207-581-3196
  March 7, 2007
  M. Gordon "Reds" Wolman, professor of geography and international affairs at Johns Hopkins University, will present a seminar on environmental geography and policy at The University of Maine campus on Thursday, March 22 in Norman Smith Hall at noon. Wolman, a National Academy of Sciences member, pioneered the study of how rivers influence the shape of the earth's landforms. Many of his professional and policy interests have been fostered by field work and exposure to resource issues in the American West. A central theme of Wolman's research is the relative roles of human and natural forces in shaping the land and waters of the earth...more.

• Water, climate change featured at Maine conference
  Contact: Ruth Hallsworth, Mitchell Center (207) 581-3196
  March 14, 2007
  ORONO - The myths and realities of our water supplies will be the feature presentation at the 2007 Maine Water Conference at the Augusta Civic Center on March 21. M. Gordon "Reds" Wolman, professor of geography and international affairs at Johns Hopkins University, is delivering the plenary presentation. Wolman is an award-winning scientist and National Academy of Sciences member, and a pioneer in the study of how rivers influence the landscape...more.
  
• January Course Offered to Maine School of Science and Mathematics Students
  Contact: Bill Zoellick, Acadia Partners (207) 963-2023
  Tuesday, December 12, 2006
  Acadia Partners for Science and Learning, working in partnership with Acadia National Park and the Senator George J. Mitchell Center at the University of Maine, is offering a January intersession course for students at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. The course will introduce students to current environmental research issues at Acadia National Park and engage them in ongoing research activities. The two-week program will be based at Acadia National Park's Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC) campus from January 8 to January 18...more
  
• Understanding and Protecting Maine’s Environment
  New Mitchell Center director David Hart links knowledge to action
  Contacts: David Hart (207) 581-3257; David Munson (207) 581-3777
  September 1, 2006
  ORONO, Maine - When it comes to securing a healthy environment for future generations, David Hart knows that actions speak louder than words. Hart, a long-time environmental scientist with a keen interest in environmental policy, recently took the helm as Director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center at UMaine. Bringing with him a wealth of leadership experience in interdisciplinary research and environmental partnerships, Hart’s primary goal at the center is to establish lasting connections between UMaine researchers and the diverse community of stakeholders who are concerned with environmental issues...more
  
• UMaine research on mercury pollution featured at international meeting
  Contact: Sarah Nelson, (207/581-3454)
  August 22, 2006
  Madison, WI – Eleven different UMaine scientists, students and alumni who study various aspects of mercury pollution presented their work at the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant earlier this month. Approximately 1,200 people attended the conference, the largest meeting dedicated to mercury pollution ever in the world. The 11 UMaine presenters helped show the international scientific community that the University of Maine is at the forefront of research into the extent and effects of environmental mercury pollution...more
  
• Acadia Partners Awards Support for Citizen-Based Monitoring Research
  Contact: Bill Zoellick at Acadia Partners (207/963-2023)
  May 18, 2006
  Acadia Partners for Science and Learning announced that it is providing supplemental funding to Sarah J. Nelson, of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center. The supplemental funding will enable Ms. Nelson to extend her research work to evaluate the accuracy of citizen-based sampling in a very demanding scientific monitoring effort…more (Adobe Acrobat document).
  
• Friends of Acadia and Acadia Partners Announce Research Grant Winners
  Contact: Bill Zoellick at Acadia Partners (207/963-2023)
  March 28, 2006
  Friends of Acadia and Acadia Partners for Science and Learning today announced the list of proposals that will receive funding for scientific research in Acadia National Park over the coming year...more (Adobe Acrobat document)
  
• Hancock County towns taking steps to protect groundwater supplies
  Contact: John Peckenham, 581-3254
  July 15, 2005
  On July 19th at 7pm, researchers from the Senator George J. Mitchell Center at the University of Maine will present their findings on a study conducted to explore the relationships between sand and gravel mining and groundwater resources in the towns of Lamoine, Hancock, and Ellsworth...more
  
• Watershed Research Laboratory receives excellent rating from audit
  Contact: Tanya Hyssong, 581-3491
  January 5, 2005
  The George J. Mitchell Center's Watershed Research Laboratory recently received an excellent and a satisfactory performance rating from two separate, independent audit programs...more
   
• Undergraduate student designs sampling equipment for Watershed Research Laboratory
  Contact: Ken Johnson, 581-3396
  September 28, 2004
  Terina Rollins, a senior biological engineering major, is conducting her capstone project in partnership with the Watershed Research Laboratory at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center. Rollins is designing an automated sampling system for the lab's new DR/4000 Spectrophotometer...more
   
• UMaine researchers seek local knowledge of Lamoine, Hancock, Ellsworth environment
  Contact: John Peckenham, 581-3254
  September 28, 2004
  Many residents of Lamoine, Hancock, and Ellsworth get their water from wells drilled into sand and gravel deposits, remnants of the glaciers that once covered the state. These deposits store large volumes of clean groundwater. In many areas, however, these deposits are also a source of sand and gravel for use in construction and road building, and it is not known how much material can be mined before water resources are affected...more

• Looking at Lakes
  May 24, 2004
  ORONO, Maine -- Lakes are a barometer for acid rain, climate change and other environmental factors. A $155,000 University of Maine research project jointly funded by the U.S Dept. of Agriculture and the U.S. Geological Survey will focus on a set of lakes from Maine to Pennsylvania first sampled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1984.

• UMaine Scientist Becomes President-Elect of National Water Research Organization
  December 8, 2003
  A University of Maine scientist has become president-elect of the National Institutes for Water Resources, NIWR. Steve Kahl, a geochemist and director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center at UMaine, also coordinates Maine’s federally funded water resources research program.
   
• UMaine Student Wins Prestigious Scholarship
  October 2003
  A UMaine graduate student has received one of eight 2003 Canon National Park Science Scholarships awarded in September to students studying at national parks in North and South America. Sarah Nelson, a researcher at UMaine' Senator George J. Mitchell Center, will use the $78,000 three-year scholarship to analyze winter trends in watershed chemistry at Acadia National Park.
  
• Clean Air Act Reduces Acid Rain
  January 03
  View maps on Acid Rain Research in Maine
   
• University of Maine Water Research Institute to be named for Maine Senator George J. Mitchell
  July 2000