The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) today announced $3 million in new PFAS Fund research grants to support Maine farms impacted by PFAS. While the vast majority of Maine farms are not impacted, DACF is currently working with 127 sites, ranging from small properties to large, diversified farms, to provide testing, financial assistance, research, and technical support that help farmers make informed decisions and continue operating safely.

Over the past five years, DACF has built robust programs of testing, expert guidance, and financial assistance to ensure safe food and continued farm operations on properties impacted by PFAS contamination. Most contamination stems from the historic use of wastewater sludge as an abundant, low-cost fertilizer, a practice banned in Maine in 2022. The presence of PFAS on agricultural land raises questions about how PFAS circulate through soil, water, plants, and animals; where PFAS accumulate within plants, animals, and animal products; and what management practices can be adopted to protect food safety and worker health. The PFAS Fund research grant program was established to help answer these questions.

DACF awarded a first round of research grants in Spring 2025 to fund projects investigating topics ranging from the use of biochar to immobilize PFAS to bioaccumulation and depuration in dairy sheep and understanding and managing the transfer of PFAS from soils to poultry and eggs.

 â€śThese new grants expand and accelerate agricultural PFAS research,” said DACF Commissioner Amanda Beal. “The results will help impacted farmers in Maine and across the country make informed decisions so they can continue to operate and thrive.”

For this round of applications, the PFAS Fund invited two categories of proposals: major grants focused on a broad set of research priorities to be carried out over two years, and targeted grants focused on narrower research questions that can be investigated over a shorter period. The Fund received a total of 31 grant applications requesting over $11 million. The application selection process was highly competitive. Each proposal was evaluated by a team of peer reviewers drawn from academia, State and Federal agencies, and the private sector.

The nine selected projects will focus on:

• Improving soil tests;
• Understanding plant, animal, and pollinator uptake of PFAS;
• Impact of PFAS on animal and pollinator health;
• Advancing predictive modeling of soil to livestock pathways;
• Whether plant uptake and PFAS leaching can be reduced through biochar;
• Possibilities for alternate crop production.

Full project descriptions are available at .

Major Grants, Round 2

Philip Fanning, 91±¬ÁĎ
PFAS Bioaccumulation in Floral Rewards: Evaluating the Consequences for Bee Pollinators and the Environment, $489,719

Investigating the consequences of PFAS for bees by evaluating the presence of PFAS in bee-collected pollen, identifying flowering plants associated with higher PFAS concentrations, and characterizing pollinator-specific responses to PFAS exposure.

Jessica Cristina Lemos Motta, 91±¬ÁĎ
Assessing the Effects of PFAS Contamination on Reproductive Function and Embryo Development in Livestock, $499,615

Studying how PFAS exposure affects female reproduction in sheep to help understand how PFAS disrupts fertility and embryo development in livestock.

Media contact: Jim Britt

The first thing the students noticed at the 91±¬ÁĎ’s J. Franklin Witter Teaching and Research Center was the smell — fresh hay and something earthier, followed by the low hum of cows shifting in their stalls. Then came hesitation and, finally, curiosity, as small hands reached out to touch an animal many had only seen in books.

Dawna Kulakowski teaches first through third grade in Troy, Maine. For her, moments like this are the point.

“I think it’s important for kids in these grades to come to the farm and learn about agriculture here at the university, because they have a lot of this out in their own communities, and they might be interested in a career in this area in the future,” Kulakowski said. “I think a lot of these kids like hands-on learning to experience things in the real world.”

Public access is central to operations at Witter Farm in Old Town. It welcomes K-12 students, community residents, university groups and professional organizations to meet the animals, learn about the research and contribute to Maine’s agricultural industry.

On a cool March day, students from Troy Central School, including those in Kulakowski’s class, traded their desks for a behind-the-scenes look at a working agricultural operation just outside 91±¬ÁĎ’s campus.

Trotting horses, mooing cows and fresh hay greeted the group as their chatter and laughter filled the barns. The visit connected Maine’s traditional classroom education with the state’s agricultural industry — one that relies on a new generation to sustain it.

Guiding them through the barns were 91±¬ÁĎ student workers, who balance coursework with leading tours and completing their daily responsibilities on the farm — an example of the university’s learner-centered approach as an R1 research institution.

Their work gives visiting students a peer-led introduction to agriculture while reinforcing their own hands-on education.

“As part of the class, students come in during their sophomore year and start working on the farm doing all kinds of things. The highlight, though, is when they are assigned to a pregnant female cow,” said Chelsea Carr, livestock operations manager. “They get to be here for the birthing as part of their grade, and once the calf arrives, they get to name it as a group.” 

The Witter Center houses multiple operations, including Witter Farm, and serves as a hub for animal sciences and sustainable agriculture. As a primary facility for the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, it integrates hands-on undergraduate and graduate education with high-level research.

The farm houses 78 animals and regularly welcomes school groups that engage directly with the animals and learn where their food comes from.

Many students also connect with the farm beyond their visit through the “Adopt a Cow” program, a Discover Dairy and New England Dairy joint initiative that features Witter Farm as one of several participating farms across New England.

“Every farm puts up two calves that get adopted by classrooms. I believe last year we were adopted by 600 classrooms of kindergarteners, and the adopted cows that we have this year are Darling and Doris. I’m sure that most of the tours on my schedule are here to see them,” Carr said.

Through this yearlong virtual initiative, educators can bring the world of farm life into their classrooms. By adopting a calf from a New England dairy farm, students can follow a specific calf’s development over the course of the school year. This immersive experience is supported by complimentary educational materials from Discover Dairy, helping students understand dairy farming and how milk reaches their tables.

“We send updates, photos and videos of our adopted calves to Discovery Dairy, who then shares this information with the participating classrooms that have adopted our calves,” said Patricia Henderson, Witter Farm’s superintendent.

Beyond traditional farm work, Witter Farm reflects the modernization of agriculture through its robotic milking barn.

“We put in the VMS300, a voluntary milking system, about a year ago in March. It’s a robot that milks the cows without people having to do it. The cows can come in whenever they want, and the robot will milk them, clean the teats and collect a whole bunch of data for us,” Henderson said.

The farm’s openness is intentional. Leaders say inviting the public in and encouraging questions helps challenge misconceptions about agriculture.

“I think there’s a lot of stigma behind dairy farming, so opening our tours to any and all questions is important for opening farms like this to the public and growing their knowledge of our industry,” said Riley McAllaster, a senior in the animal and veterinary science program with a pre-veterinary concentration.

That effort is tied to a broader concern: fewer people are entering the agricultural workforce.

“I hope these tours spark an interest in agriculture for these kids. With our new technology, like the robot barn, I hope people will understand that this is a modern, informing industry,” Carr said. “I want more people to be aware of the many agricultural jobs beyond working as a farmer, including research roles. Renewable farming is a growing industry, and it is full of jobs that need to be filled, and I hope these kids realize these opportunities early on.”

Story by Alexa Rose Perocillo, news intern

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu

When warm days follow freezing nights, sap begins to run in maple trees across the 91±¬ÁĎ Forest in Old Town. Students and staff haul buckets of the clear liquid through snow and mud to a small wooden sugarhouse, where steam rises from a wood-fired evaporator as the sap slowly boils into thick, sweet maple syrup. 

Visitors will soon be able to see the process firsthand during at 91±¬ÁĎ’s Thomas J. Corcoran Sugar House, a Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station managed facility.

The sugarhouse — along with the equipment used to produce syrup and the finished product itself — will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 22, as part of the statewide celebration.

Undergraduate students work alongside staff 

At the sugarhouse, undergraduate students work alongside staff operating the wood-fired evaporator that turns sap into syrup. The hands-on work gives students experience in maple production while they study forestry and related fields at 91±¬ÁĎ.

Sap is collected from about 350 tapped trees across the University Forest in Old Town. This year, University Forests Manager Keith Kanoti and his team started boiling on March 9 and produced 16 quarts of syrup in the first boil. Maple season in Central Maine typically lasts four to six weeks between late February and early April.

The amount of syrup produced each year depends largely on air temperature. According to Kanoti, the ideal conditions for syrup production include below-freezing temperatures at night to freeze the sap in the trees, followed by above-freezing temperatures during the day to thaw the sap and allow it to flow from the taps. In 2025, Kanoti’s team produced 295 quarts of syrup. 

Inside the sugarhouse, tree sap is poured into an evaporator, a long metal tank with multiple pans where water is boiled off and sugars concentrate into syrup. On average, it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Kanoti’s team then filters out minerals and other particles, boils the syrup once more in a propane-fueled tank and bottles it. 

“It’s actually a fairly simple process,” Kanoti said. “It’s a process that’s been done for thousands of years, and people have refined it over time.” 

Work prepares students for careers in forestry

The maple operation supports 91±¬ÁĎ’s teaching and outreach mission. Students collecting and boiling sap gain practical experience while managing other spring semester responsibilities, including timber harvesting and forest management — work that prepares them for careers in forestry, conservation and outdoor recreation.

Jack Houtz, a 2018 91±¬ÁĎ graduate, is now a University Forests technician. As an undergraduate, he worked at the campus sugarhouse, helping boil maple syrup and gaining hands-on forestry experience.

Through his work with University Forests, Houtz also harvested timber, measured and marked trees for harvest, operated heavy equipment and led public tours. The experience built the technical knowledge, time management and communication skills he uses in his role today.

“There are a lot of foundational skills and ideas that have to be learned in the classroom,” Houtz said. “But it’s not until you go out into the field and get your hands dirty — or sticky, in this case — that you can practice and retain them. Those skills I learned as an undergraduate are what set me up for success in my forestry career.” 

His work reflects 91±¬ÁĎ’s commitment to learner-centered R1 education, where undergraduate students participate in hands-on research alongside faculty and industry partners to tackle challenges facing Maine communities.  

“Our mission at the University Forest focuses on research, demonstration and education,” Kanoti said. “We also host community events where local schools and visitors can come see how maple syrup is made. Researchers sometimes use the sap or syrup for projects and experiments. Some classes even incorporate the sap and syrup into coursework.”

Welcome to the Thomas J. Corcoran Sugar House

During Maine Maple Sunday Weekend, visitors will be able to tour the sugarhouse, see the equipment used to produce maple syrup and sample syrup made at 91±¬ÁĎ. Bottles of the university’s syrup will also be available for sale.

The Thomas J. Corcoran Sugar House is located on Lucy Thompson Road off College Avenue, about a half mile from its intersection with Stillwater Avenue. A sign will be posted at the roadside during Maine Maple Sunday Weekend.

“It’s a fun and interesting activity for the university, and it’s a great way to connect people with the forest — especially in the spring,” Kanoti said. 

Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu 

91±¬ÁĎ Cooperative Extension recently completed installation of an advanced weather station in Orono, the third such station in what will become a statewide Mesonet, a network of research-grade weather stations designed specifically for agriculture. As droughts, downpours, extreme heat and spring frosts become more common, Maine farmers say they need forecasts that provide additional detailed and localized information.

“Our work follows the rhythm of the weather,” said Lisa Hanscom, co-owner and manager at Welch Farm in Roque Bluffs. “The Jonesboro station helps us know the right time to tend our wild blueberries, and with the Maine Mesonet, we’ll have the real-time data we need to protect our crop and keep our farm thriving.”

The project stems from a 2020 needs assessment led by Extension wild blueberry specialist Lily Calderwood. Only 34% of surveyed growers reported using weather-based decision tools at the time, but 86% said they wanted to in the future. Existing networks, like Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) for aviation, NOAA’s Cooperative Observer Program, Maine Forest Service fire weather sites and various personal stations, offer valuable data. However, maintenance can be uneven, access and quality of the data vary and most lack soil temperature, moisture sensors or the ability to detect temperature inversions, measurements that are critical for crop management.

“The right data at the right moment turns guesswork into good decisions,” said Calderwood, who is co-leading the project along with Maine State Climatologist Sean Birkel. “A farm-level network will help growers decide when to irrigate, when a spray is justified and when to protect against frost. That improves yields, decreases inputs and saves time during the most stressful parts of the season.”

The Maine Mesonet project is installing a total of 26 ten- and three-meter stations across all 16 counties, prioritizing agricultural hubs. Three stations are planned each for Washington (wild blueberry) and Aroostook (potato) counties and other areas of high agricultural production, especially where gaps in weather data exist. Sites are also planned for 91±¬ÁĎ Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station (MAFES) farms and cooperating private and public lands.

Detailed weather and environmental data from the network will be accessible on the Maine Climate Office website, overseen by co-principal investigator and Maine State Climatologist Sean Birkel. The network’s localized measurements are expected to improve short-term forecasting, enhance Integrated Pest Management (IPM) decision models, guide irrigation and frost protection, and sharpen the timing of pesticide applications. Project leaders expect the wild blueberry and potato sectors to see measurable benefits within two growing seasons of deployment.

“Maine is seeing warmer temperatures, and in the past decade the state has also been variously impacted by drought,” said Birkel. “A Mesonet gives us high-resolution, real-time observations to track these shifts in the field throughout each season. Additional observations can improve local forecasts, making them more useful to farmers. These observations will also help statewide drought monitoring and planning.”

The effort also supports statewide priorities to expand outreach and enhance weather monitoring. Soil-moisture data from the network will be used by the Maine Drought Task Force and the U.S. Drought Monitor. The information will also be distributed to national companies that use weather data to predict larger trends in weather and storms, resulting in more accurate models.

The budget for the project is $3.5 million, which includes funding for 26 stations and software, plus one full-time technician to install, maintain and manage the system and decision-support tools. Funding for the Maine Mesonet was secured for the 91±¬ÁĎ System in Fiscal Year 2024 through the Congressionally Directed Spending process by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, now chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, with support from U.S. Sen. Angus King.

Maine is collaborating with the New York State Mesonet, operated by the University at Albany, to manage the large amount of data generated by the 26 stations. New York specialists will ensure the quality and accuracy of the data before sending it back to Maine. This collaboration highlights the growing trend of mesonet networks across the country working together to share knowledge, standardize practices and deliver better weather information to the public.

“We’re excited to launch this first-of-its-kind partnership between two statewide mesonet networks,” said New York State Mesonet Director June Wang. “Our team is proud to demonstrate how we can make sharing data easier, more efficient and more valuable for end users. We look forward to extending these services to additional weather networks in the future.”

For Maine farmers facing meteorological volatility, the Mesonet promises something simple but powerful: timely, trustworthy, farm-level weather intelligence.

Contact: Lily Calderwood, lily.calderwood@maine.edu

Dr. Danielle Levesque is featured in multiple outlets discussing how animals control their body temperature: & .

The 91±¬ÁĎ System (UMS) has achieved its first collective bargaining agreement with part-time graduate student workers, acknowledging their essential role in education and research while maintaining fiscal responsibility.

The three-year contract between the System and the 91±¬ÁĎ Graduate Workers Union–UAW (UMGWU) that was ratified tonight by a vote of 438–3 positions Maine’s public universities as a national destination for graduate student education, research and employment.

“This agreement achieves the right balance — recognizing that graduate student workers deserve fair compensation and working conditions that reflect their essential role in our education and research mission, while also upholding our responsibility to keep Maine’s public universities affordable for students and taxpayers,” said Chancellor Dannel Malloy and Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and 91±¬ÁĎ President Joan Ferrini-Mundy in a joint statement. “We commend both bargaining teams for staying focused on the best interests of our students and public universities during these difficult negotiations, and thank our graduate student workers for their invaluable contributions that strengthen our System’s impact across Maine and beyond. With this agreement ratified, we can now move forward together delivering upward mobility through world-class education and research.” 

The new contract will provide:

• Immediate ratification bonus:A one-time $750 bonus for the approximately 900 part-time graduate student workers represented by UMGWU will be paid within 60 days of today’s ratification. 
• Substantial stipend increases: For example, the nine-month stipend for represented 91±¬ÁĎ master’s students who work 20 hours per week will increase from $17,000 to $21,000 effective July 1, 2026, and for doctoral students from $20,000 to $23,500. The minimum stipends at other UMS universities will increase by $3,000 for master’s and $5,000 for doctoral union members. 
• Guaranteed annual stipend increases: The minimum stipends for part-time graduate student workers will increase by 3% in the second year of the contract and 3.5% in the third year. 
• University-funded student worker health insurance: 91±¬ÁĎ will pay 65% of premium costs for those enrolled in the graduate student worker health insurance plan in the first two years of the contract, increasing that contribution to 85% in the third year. The flagship will also contribute 50% toward the premium for one dependent of each covered graduate student worker. 
• University-funded dental insurance: 91±¬ÁĎ will pay 50% of the premium cost for those enrolled in the graduate student workers’ dental insurance plan.
• Free tuition that leads to high-value degrees and meaningful careers: UMS will waive nine credit hours of tuition per fall/spring semester for most part-time graduate student workers, valued at $10,314 annually based on current rates. 

The System’s Board of Trustees is expected to vote to give final approval to the contract at their next regular meeting, which is scheduled for Jan. 26 in Orono. It would take immediate effect, though pay and benefit provisions will begin on July 1, 2026 — the start of the System’s next fiscal year. 

More than 90% of UMGWU’s members are research and teaching assistants at 91±¬ÁĎ, the only institution in the state to have achieved R1 Carnegie Classification for research performance and productivity. Unlike many other research universities in the nation, 91±¬ÁĎ has this year despite the loss of federal grants and contracts. Additionally, the flagship secured $250,000 in philanthropic funding through its Foundation to support paid research opportunities and degree progress for graduate students impacted by terminated or paused awards. 

In 2023, UMS voluntarily recognized the UAW to represent approximately 900 part-time graduate student workers across Maine’s public universities without requiring a lengthy certification process. The System additionally has six other bargaining units, including: Associated Clerical Office Laboratory Technical Staff of the Universities of Maine (ACSUM/COLT), Associated Faculties of the 91±¬ÁĎ System, Maine Part-Time Faculty Association (PATFA), Police Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #100, Service & Maintenance (S&M) Teamsters Union Local #340 and the Universities of Maine Professional Staff Association (UMPSA).

Contact: Samantha Warren, 207.632.0389, samantha.warren@maine.edu

Diane Rowland, dean of the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences and director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, was a guest on a recent segment of the . Rowland discussed her career trajectory, pioneering research as a crop physiologist and her efforts to foster team science and advance equity and inclusion as dean of 91±¬ÁĎ’s largest college.

91±¬ÁĎ President and 91±¬ÁĎ System Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Joan Ferrini-Mundy made remarks at a listening session of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture in Freeport hosted by committee chairman Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) and Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) on July 31. The listening session was held to gather input from Mainers on policies, programs and investment to prioritize in the 2023 Farm Bill.

“The reauthorization of the Farm Bill, including increased funding, will position our land grant university for even greater state and national impact, including through 91±¬ÁĎ’s Cooperative Extension offices statewide and our Maine Agriculture and Forestry Experiment Station research farms, forests, gardens and greenhouses,” Ferrini-Mundy said. “These organizations work with folks across this room today and we couldn’t be more proud than to be representing the importance of agriculture in the state of Maine.”

Ferrini-Mundy highlighted 91±¬ÁĎ’s research, outreach and workforce development initiatives to advance farms and food systems, such as the Wyman’s Wild Blueberry Research and Innovation Center; the world-class potato breeding program at Aroostook Farm, which developed the successful gourmet potato variety, the Caribou Russet; and the (WaYS) program, which supports Indigenous student persist in STEM and is funded through the USDA’s New Beginnings for Tribal Students program. 

She noted that past federal funds secured by Sens. Collins and King are being used for the establishment of a PFAS testing lab and technical assistance program for farmers, , and called for more federal investment in university agriculture research facilities. Ferrini-Mundy also emphasized that 91±¬ÁĎ’s “signature strengths” including climate science, clean energy technology, biobased material development, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine sciences including aquaculture, food systems and more are closely connected to the needs of Maine and the federal programs authorized by the Farm Bill. 

The listening session was moderated by Hannah Carter, dean of the 91±¬ÁĎ Cooperative Extension. 

A video recording of the listening session can be found on the House Committee on Agriculture and on ; Ferrini-Mundy’s testimony begins at 12:08 and ends at 14:47.

In a formal written testimony to the committee, Ferrini-Mundy, who also chairs the Council of Presidents of the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities (APLU) further detailed the importance of investments in land grant education, research and service to the success of Maine and the nation. 

“Perhaps nowhere is the success of agriculture and dependent rural communities more intertwined with the activities and capacity of a land grant university than here in Maine with our flagship university,” she wrote. “Undergirding Maine’s and our nation’s farms and food systems is cutting-edge research and a skilled, highly innovative workforce produced by America’s land grant universities. This country’s ability to maintain our global leadership and economic competitiveness and ensure equitable prosperity for all people; address climate change and cyberthreats, advance rural communities, food safety and security, and energy independence; and solve problems not yet imagined is dependent upon the investments in our institutions you can help make possible in the next Farm Bill.”

91±¬ÁĎ ecology professor Brian McGill was awarded the Humboldt Research Award, one of the most prestigious scientific honors in Germany.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation awards the prize annually to internationally-renowned scientists who reside outside of Germany. In addition to the cash award of 60,000 euros, or about $71,000, Humboldt awardees are invited to conduct research in Germany. McGill plans to spend the fall of 2024 in the laboratory of Professor Jonathan Chase at iDiv, the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research.

“Understanding biodiversity and how human activity shapes it requires a global perspective. iDiv is one of the premier research centers in the world for these subjects. My past research visits, which usually lasted just one week, proved very productive,” McGill says. 

“I am excited to be able to spend more time there, engaging in deeper and hopefully more creative research on how to reach a sustainable relationship between biodiversity and humans.” 

A professor of biological sciences, McGill studies biodiversity at large scales of space and time across many species. His research aims to refine predictions about how species’ ranges and community structures respond to climate change and human activity.

McGill’s ideas have a wide-ranging impact in his field of macroecology. His work established the importance of prediction in ecology and identified unifying principles in the field. He also pioneered solutions to conceptual issues in his discipline related to the widely-used and vaguely-defined term biodiversity. McGill and his colleagues developed a series of scientifically measurable concepts to resolve this long-standing source of ambiguity in the field of ecology and provided concrete tools to better measure and assess biodiversity in management contexts.

Through the blog “,” McGill and two co-authors shape the way research is conducted in labs across the planet and provide mentorship globally on successfully navigating academic cultures. The blog, with 700,000 visits per year, is the most widely read in academic ecology.

In addition to the recent Humboldt Award, McGill was named one of the most cited researchers in the world in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by Web of Science. His research is also featured in textbooks from high school to the graduate level. McGill is a lifetime honorary fellow of the Ecological Society of America, which is bestowed to approximately 250 of the organization’s 9,000 members. He also received the 2020 Outstanding Faculty Research Award from 91±¬ÁĎ’s College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. 

McGill, whose lab is part of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station, has been a faculty member in the School of Biology and Ecology since 2010. He also holds a joint appointment in the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions and a cooperating appointment in the Climate Change Institute. He served until recently as editor-in-chief of Global Ecology and Biogeography and formerly as associate editor of Frontiers of Ecology and Environment, American Naturalist, and Global Ecology and Biogeography. 

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors distinguished international scientists and scholars and maintains an international network of academic cooperation and trust. Humboldt Research Award nominees are evaluated for their lifetime academic achievements. Past recipients include 59 Nobel Prize winners.

Abigayl Novak, who earned her Master of Science in Forest Resources from the 91±¬ÁĎ this May, spoke to the about gender-diverse representation in the bioenergy and forestry sectors. “I’m really looking forward to seeing more women in forestry and us supporting each other in this industry. I want to continue being a mentor to people and I want them to know they can do this and it doesn’t matter who you are,” Novak said. For her graduate thesis, Novak studied how woody biochar may be used as a soil amendment to improve drought resilience in wild blueberry crops. Her co-advisors were assistant professor Ling Li at the School of Forest Resources and assistant professor Yongjiang Zhang at the School of Biology and Ecology. Novak is also an alumna of 91±¬ÁĎ’s Ecology and Environmental Sciences program.