{"id":945,"date":"2011-02-25T11:32:04","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T16:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.umaine.edu\/wle\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:29:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T15:29:45","slug":"department-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/wle\/department-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Department News Archives"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Check out what the faculty, staff, and students have been up to over the past few years.<\/h2>\n

Maine Legislature bucked national trends to protect wildlife (Gundrum ’19)<\/a><\/h3>\nAugust 5, 2025 – by Opinion Contributor, Bangor Daily News\nThese are challenging times for conservationists who are dealing with a federal government and Congress emboldened to weaken federal environmental laws and slash funding and staffing levels at natural resource agencies. Thankfully, there remains a strong will to protect Maine\u2019s environment in our state legislature.\n

Author Noah Charney<\/a><\/h3>\nJuly 22, 2025 – by Monte Belmonte and Kaliis Smith, The Fabulous 413\nWe\u2019re heading out into the wilds to a not so clearly marked location in Hampshire County to witness epochs of evolution and change in the hills and dales.\n

DEC launches new citizen science wildlife monitoring program (Fuller ’06, ’99)<\/a><\/h3>\nJul 8, 2025 – East Aurora Bee\nThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Cornell University recently announced the launch a new citizen science program \u2014 Snapshot NY \u2014 that allows the public to participate in wildlife monitoring through the deployment of trail cameras, while helping improve the way the DEC monitors and manages more than a dozen wildlife species.\n

Maine Sea Grant helping state conserve Atlantic salmon (Hannon)<\/a><\/h3>\nJuly 11, 2025 – 91爆料 News\nWhether it\u2019s through fish stocking, habitat restoration or research, the 91爆料-led Maine Sea Grant is helping the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) conserve Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine \u2014 the last wild populations of the species in the U.S.\n

Map Shows States Where Wildlife Is Under Threat (Charney)<\/a><\/h3>\nPublished Jul 04, 2025 at 6:00 AM EDT – Newsweek\nA number of Western states have vulnerable wildlife that would be threatened by possible land protection rollbacks, according to the conservation group the Wilderness Society.\n

In Memory of Richard Nutter Smith ‘ 58<\/a><\/h3>\nMay 20, 2025 – Legacy.com\nRichard Nutter Smith of Vienna, Virginia, passed peacefully at home on May 16, 2025. He was the beloved husband of Dorothy Shoemaker Smith for 65 years, and loving father of Gretchen Burke (Paul), Cynthia Loftin (James), Jennifer Smith (Parris), and Hilary Lambrecht (Bruce). Survivors include ten grandchildren, Timothy (Maggie), Kelly, Jack, Steven, Daniel, Haley (Timothy), Anna, Stephanie, Samuel, Isaac and great-granddaughter Penny. Also surviving is sister Marcia Mink (Roy) of Franktown, VA and many nieces, nephews and cousins.\n

Plan to loosen federal habitat protection seen as threat to iconic Maine wildlife (Charney)<\/a><\/h3>\nMay 15, 2025 – by Penelope Overton, Portland Press Herald\nMaine has its own state endangered species law, but environmentalists say a proposed change in federal law could hurt some Maine species the state has worked to protect.\n

Amphibians on the march for their Big Night (Charney)<\/a><\/h3>\nMay 4, 2025 – Kennebec Journal\nOn warm, rainy spring nights, Maine’s amphibians are on the move to make their moves, sometimes with human help.\n

In Memory of Paul O’Neil ’74<\/a><\/h3>\nApril 23, 2025 – Legacy.com\nLeyden, MA – Paul M. O’Neil died on April 23 at home in Leyden during a short illness. Paul was born in Fall River on February 21, 1949, the son of Paul Francis O’Neil and Dorothy Muriel (Davis) O’Neil.\n

Two new murals in Bangor aim to draw attention to local ecosystem and culture (Fedarick)<\/a><\/h3>\nApril 25, 2025 – NewscenterMaine.com\n

Maine launches sturgeon recovery program (CRU)<\/a><\/h3>\nApril 21, 2025 – Seafood Source\nThe U.S. state of Maine has launched a new program designed to help Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon recover in Maine waters.\n\n\u201cThis work will develop the research necessary to support recovery of Atlantic and Shortnose sturgeons and will provide an opportunity for community members to be part of that exciting process,\u201d Maine Department of Marine Research (DMR) Scientist Danielle Frechette said in a statement.\n

Elizabeth Brennan (’25): Outstanding Graduating Student<\/a><\/h3>\nApril 29, 2025 – 91爆料 News\nElizabeth Brennan of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. She is a wildlife ecology major and member of the Honors College, through which she wrote a thesis titled \u201cPhenological changes in Arctic and Common Terns across Maine\u2019s coastal islands.\u201d\n

Vernal Pools Are the Place to Be for Woodland Critters\u2014as Long as They Last (Calhoun)<\/a><\/h3>\nSpring 2025 – by Alice Sun, Audubon News\nResearchers and community scientists have teamed up to map and protect these ephemeral biodiversity hotspots before they disappear for good.\n

Manchester family donates almost 100 acres to Kennebec Land Trust (Record)<\/a><\/h3>\nMarch 10, 2025 – by Ethan Horton, Kennebec Journal\nMatt Sinclair and his grandfather, Robert Hopkins, are hoping their gift of land in Manchester will give future generations an opportunity to be in nature.\n

Farmland- An Unexpected, Yet Important Habitat for an Elusive Migratory Bird (Darling)<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n

February 11, 2025 – Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan
In an effort to address the decline in American Woodcocks (Figure 1), the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative (woodcockmigration.org), an international collaborative project led by the 91爆料, partnered with dairy farm owners James (Sandy) and Emma Cole from Elderbank, Halifax County NS to study their migratory ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In memory of Douglas Vollmer ’53<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

January 16, 2025 – Legacy.com
Douglas Albert Vollmer was born in New Rochelle, NY, on September 16, 1930, to Walter E.B. and Amy E. Olive (Griffin) Vollmer. He peacefully passed away from kidney failure on January 16, 2025, under the compassionate care of the Maine Veterans’ Home.<\/p>\nupdated 5\/11\/2026<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Check out what the faculty, staff, and students have been up to over the past few years. Maine Legislature bucked national trends to protect wildlife (Gundrum ’19) August 5, 2025 – by Opinion Contributor, Bangor Daily News These are challenging times for conservationists who are dealing with a federal government and Congress emboldened to weaken […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":445,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":18,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-945","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nDepartment News Archives - Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology - 91爆料<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/wle\/department-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Department News Archives - Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology - 91爆料\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check out what the faculty, staff, and students have been up to over the past few years. 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