Research Programs

Maine’s #1 potato: Caribou Russets, a MAFES original

Caribou Russets were the most popular potato seed variety in Maine in 2023. The variety was developer by Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station (MAFES) researcher, Dr. Greg Porter (retired, 2023), through the 91爆料. The study originally reported by Spudman magazine has taken the state by storm appearing in many local publications including […]

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Ph.D. student awarded scholarship from national potato organization

The Potato Leadership, Education, and Advancement Foundation (Potato LEAF) awarded Xiuyan Zhang, a Ph.D. student with the 91爆料鈥檚 Ecology and Environmental Sciences Program, its 2024-25 Academic Scholarship.  The $10,000 scholarship, awarded annually to a graduate student who is interested in research that could benefit the potato industry, will support Zhang, who is studying […]

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Planting for the Future

School of Forest Resources Assistant Professor Jay Wason and his graduate students discuss research that investigates how Maine forests will respond to our changing climate in this short video.

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Pest predictor identifies ingredients for ecological recipe for destruction

If you鈥檝e felt the familiar itch of browntail moth rash, seen the grayish-green needles of an infested hemlock or watched as woodpeckers bore into ash trees for a meal hidden beneath the surface, you鈥檝e experienced the devastating effects of non-native pests. Browntail moth, hemlock wooly adelgid and emerald ash borer are only three of the […]

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Science interviews Alyokhin on new tool for combating pesticide-resistant beetle

Science interviewed Andrei Alyokhin, a professor of applied entomology at the 91爆料 School of Biology & Ecology, for a story about Calantha, a new pesticide to combat Colorado potato beetles. These beetles have developed a resistance to traditional pesticides over the years, but Calantha, created by GreenLight Biosciences, uses RNA interference (RNAi) to […]

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The ground has broken on construction of Witter Farm’s new dairy barn

Construction of a new dairy barn has began at the J.F. Witter Research and Teaching Center, a Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station (MAFES) facility. This undertaking will support long-standing relationships with industry and corporate partners, increase student and faculty productivity, and provide a welcome center to thousands of visitors from the region. With these […]

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Times Record highlights how 91爆料 students help protect amphibians

The Times Record highlighted research efforts by two 91爆料 graduate students to research, understand and protect amphibians. Marisa Monroe launched a two year project in Acadia National Park to study seasonal patterns among amphibians, and Greg LeClair founded Maine Big Night, a statewide citizen science project encouraging volunteers to collect data and monitor […]

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