Three academic programs at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will host the next Science Lunchtime Seminar Series this spring to provide more exciting ways for the community to explore the world of science in northern Maine. The Environmental Science and Sustainability, Biology, and Agricultural Science programs present their 14th semi-annual lunchtime seminar series, providing a forum to present scientific research conducted by UMPI students and faculty, and local and regional scientists, as well as topics in management, medicine and applied science. All are invited to attend.
The series, now in its seventh year, fosters greater collaboration and more informative communication between UMPI—especially its students—and the greater northern Maine region. The purpose of the series is to bring the University, working professionals, and community members together by collaborating on ideas and experiments through scientific discoveries.
There are seven seminars this spring from February to April. The series is held on Tuesdays or Thursdays in Folsom 201, UMPI’s GIS Lab, unless otherwise noted. People should plan to arrive by 12:15 p.m. for the meet and greet. The seminars usually start at 12:30 p.m. and end around 1:30 p.m.
The series kicked off on Tuesday, Feb. 4 with a presentation by Kirk Michaud and Julie Johnston of USDA Wildlife Service and Seth Jones and Heidi Bunn of USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services. They will speak on Career Opportunities in USDA.
On Friday, March 6, Andrei Alyokhin, Professor of Biology at the University of Maine, will deliver a talk on Epidemiology and Management of Potato Virus Y.
The following week, on Tuesday, March 10, a presentation titled The Maine Bird Atlas—Citizen Science at Work in a Big Way will be delivered by Adrienne Leppold, Wildlife Biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.
On Thursday, March 26, Grace A. Stafford, Bioinformatics Analyst at Jackson Laboratory will deliver a talk on Gene Therapy and CRISPR—Don’t go Breakin’ my Heart.
The series continues on Thursday, April 2 with a presentation on Microbial Diversity and Functional Activity Patterns at Multiple Spatial Scales by Larry Feinstein, Assistant Professor of Biology at UMPI.
On Thursday, April 16, Kendra Batchelder, Research Assistant at UMPI, will deliver a talk on Image Analysis of Mammographic Breast Lesions.
The series culminates on Thursday, April 30, with a presentation by Kate Corlew, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Maine at Augusta. She will speak on The Psychology of Climate Change: From the Pacific Islands to Maine.
For more information about the Science Lunchtime Seminar Series, please contact Dr. Jason Johnston at 207-768-9652 or jason.johnston@maine.edu. To learn more about the Academic programs hosting this series, visit https://www.umpi.edu/academics/academic_programs/environmental-science/, https://www.umpi.edu/academics/academic_programs/biology/, and https://www.umpi.edu/academics/academic_programs/agricultural-science/.