For beverage coolers to keep drinks cold on a hot summer day, manufacturers rely on polyurethane foam, which is made from raw chemicals that are hazardous to handle before processing. To reduce health and environmental risks associated with this material, a University of Maine graduate student is designing an insulation component for coolers from an unexpected material: wood. 

Quazeem Tiamiyu’s wood fiber foam insulation serves as a bio-based alternative to replace polyurethane foam in conventional beverage coolers. 

Polyurethane is a petroleum-based material that is nonrenewable, slow to degrade and can pollute landfills and waterways while posing health risks for workers who handle it. Although people use coolers every day, few realize conventional ice chests typically rely on polyurethane foam for cavity insulation. 

“Polyurethane foam’s raw chemicals are highly toxic and carcinogenic. For people that work with it, it has also been reported to cause respiratory disease and skin irritation,â€� said Tiamiyu.  

Tiamiyu is a master’s student in the School of Forest Resources and graduate research assistant in the Laboratory of Renewable Nanomaterials. After earning his bachelor’s degree at the Federal University of Technology in Minna, Nigeria, he joined the research group of Mehdi Tajvidi, professor of renewable nanomaterials, to develop an environmentally-friendly alternative to polyurethane insulation.

The foam Tiamiyu and his colleagues designed consists of cellulose nanofibrils, wood fiber, finely ground wood flour and a surfactant that enables high foam volume. Cellulose nanofibrils are ultra-thin fibers made by breaking down wood pulp into strands much thinner than a human hair. Acting as both a binder and a stabilizer, the cellulose nanofibrils create strong web-like structures in the base materials — the wood fiber and wood flour. 

91¸£Àû’s Process Development Center is a leading CNF production facility and the only one in the United States capable of continuously producing up to four tons per day at pilot scale.

Tiamiyu mixes the ingredients in a blender to generate the foam, which is poured into molds designed to resemble actual cooler inserts. Then water is then drained from the molds, and the finished foam is dried before being enclosed in a protective plastic shell.

When Tiamiyu tested how well his foam insulates compared with polyurethane, the results were nearly identical. 

“For the thermal conductivity, we are close,� he said. “We actually found that we can compete with polyurethane foam. They have a close insulation property.�

Tiamiyu said the biggest hurdles now are achieving mechanical properties comparable to polyurethane and developing an efficient encapsulation method. Conventional coolers are easy to produce because manufacturers just inject liquid polyurethane into the shell, where the foam stays in place. Tiamiyu’s foam, however, must be made via a wet process, dried and then encapsulated or fitted into the cooler cavity, making production more challenging.

He is also focused on making the foam durable enough to withstand everyday use. If the foam is crushed or damaged, its insulating ability decreases.

Additionally, Tiamiyu plans to conduct ice retention tests to compare how long the foam keeps ice relative to conventional coolers.

“Usually when you process cellulose nanofibrils it tends to lose its nano-scale properties to be binded again so another one of our future objectives is to see if it’s possible to disperse the ready foam in water and then mold it again to whatever shapes possible,â€� Tiamiyu said. “If that is possible the ready foam can be shipped and the manufacturers can put it in water and mold it however they want.â€� 

While challenges remain, the researchers are hopeful for the future. The project demonstrates that renewable alternatives to petroleum-based insulation can be produced using materials derived from the byproducts of Maine’s lumber mills.

Story by Yoana Karageorgieva, research media intern

Contact: Daniel Timmermann, daniel.timmermann@maine.edu

When low-level flames spread across five acres of forestland in Old Town one June afternoon, University of Maine students Logan Quinn of Braintree, Massachusetts, and Mar Wiltz of Bloomington, Indiana, helped keep them under control while gaining hands-on experience that could shape their future forestry careers.

The two-hour prescribed burn at 91¸£Àû’s Dwight B. Demeritt University Forest was designed to reduce leaf litter and understory vegetation that can hinder red oak regeneration. Prescribed fire is also increasingly used across the country to reduce wildfire risk by removing accumulated fuels such as dead trees, branches and other forest debris.

Working as volunteer firefighters, Quinn and Wiltz, both pursuing master’s degrees in forest resources, cleared debris around the perimeter before igniting the fire, exposing soil that would stop flames from spreading past the designated burn area. With drip torches in hand, they joined Maine Forest Service firefighters in setting the prescribed fire. During the burn, they doused wayward flames to prevent them from spreading to the rest of the forest.   

Quinn and Wiltz earned their firefighter certifications through their undergraduate studies at 91¸£Àû and the University of Vermont, respectively. Their participation was made possible when Rose Abramoff, assistant professor in 91¸£Àû’s School of Forest Resources, connected them with the Maine Forest Service.

“What was nice about being a part of the holding crew is you get to pop in wherever you’re needed,â€� said Wiltz, who hopes to become a forester for a government agency. “A lot of state forestry employers are getting firefighters certified and sending them out west to fight fires. Getting this experience now is really wonderful to have moving forward.â€� 

Beyond providing hands-on firefighting experience, the burn also created a living laboratory for student researchers studying how fire affects Northeastern forests. The project supported research led by master’s student Cameron Chin, who is investigating how fire influences plant communities and soil health in temperate woodlands.

With less experience with wildfires than other parts of the U.S., the Northeast lacks research on how wild and prescribed fires affect its temperate forests, Abramoff said. She added that the region’s forests are generally less adapted to wildfire than woodlands in other parts of the country. 

“We expect the risk of wildfires to increase as the risk of droughts increase,â€� she said. “Tree pests encroaching on the Northeast — emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid, browntail moth, white pine weevil — create dead wood that could burn.â€� 

Preparing for the future of Northeast forestry

Chin is spearheading research into how fire affects the various plant species and soil properties in the temperate forests that dominate the Northeast. 

Days after that burn in the Demeritt Forest, Chin returned to the site with Quinn, Wiltz and Ph.D. student Colby Bosley-Smith. The group collected soil samples, inventoried plant species and analyzed burn severity to better understand how fire influences forest recovery.

As more forestland managers explore prescribed fire to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest resilience and promote ecologically valuable tree species, Chin is dedicating part of her research to understanding the benefits and tradeoffs of this practice in the region. 

More research is needed to determine what plants regenerate after a prescribed burn and whether they alter the chemistry of the soil, particularly its carbon levels, Chin said. 

Trees and other plant life rely on carbon to thrive in many ways. For example, Chin said carbon feeds microorganisms that liberate previously inaccessible nutrients from soil molecules that promote root growth. 

“Fire is one of those disturbances that can have an immediate effect on soil and soil nutrients,� Chin said. “Forestry as an industry has grown more interested in soil carbon.�

Researchers will revisit the plots to monitor forest regeneration over time. Chin is measuring soil carbon dioxide emissions on a weekly basis through the end of November. 

Through research, students apply concepts from statistics, chemistry and physics to real-world forest management challenges, Abramoff said. 

“We teach students how to observe what’s around them in quantifiable ways and make inferences based on that, and that’s useful in every industry,â€� she said.  

For Quinn, who graduated from 91¸£Àû with a bachelor’s degree this spring, helping Chin with her research and serving as a volunteer firefighter during the burn allowed him to expand his professional network and opened an opportunity to conduct his own research on prescribed burns in southern Maine. After earning a master’s degree, Quinn hopes to work in conservation. 

“Having these experiences is really helpful for me in my job pursuits,â€� he said.  

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

Mehdi Tajvidi, a professor of renewable nanomaterials at the University of Maine, has been named the 2026 recipient of the FiberLean Distinguished Scientist Award from the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) Advanced Renewable Materials division.

The award recognizes individuals whose work has significantly advanced scientific and engineering knowledge within the renewable materials sector. Division Technical Awards, presented by TAPPI, honor outstanding accomplishments or contributions that advance industry technology in a given field.

Tajvidi received the award on April 28 at the TAPPICon conference in Columbus, Ohio.

He holds appointments in 91¸£Àû’s School of Forest Resources, the Advanced Structures and Composites Center and the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute. His research focuses on alternatives to petroleum-based products, particularly within forest-based industries.

Photosynthesis is the oldest carbon-capture technology on Earth. For eons, plants have pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locked carbon — the building block of life on our planet — into their bodies and roots. 

In young forests, the widespread consensus is that this process rapidly pulls, or sequesters, carbon from the atmosphere. As forests mature, more trees start to die, releasing the carbon they captured in their wake. Carbon sequestration, the thinking goes, slowly stalls and old forests eventually release roughly as much carbon into the air as they capture.

Thirty years of measurements taken by University of Maine scientists at a remote 550-acre forest challenge this idea.

At Howland Research Forest, located about 30 miles north of 91¸£Àû, in the towns of Edinburg and Howland, 98-foot towers rise above the spruce and hemlock canopy. They are topped by instruments that measure carbon dioxide flux — the exchange of the gas between the forest canopy and the atmosphere. The measurements are so precise that they can detect the breath of a technician working nearby.

What they have recorded is a carbon record of exceptional length drawn from a mature, undisturbed forest. The data generated here is reshaping how the world understands forests and their influence on climate. The towers on Howland have been collecting data since 1996, making them among the longest-running records of their kind in the United States, second only to Harvard Forest. 

These findings are used by scientists, educators and land managers worldwide, informing forest management, timber production, carbon budgets, conservation and policy. But the future of this research is uncertain. For decades, the Howland towers were supported through the federally funded AmeriFlux network. As research priorities shifted, that support was interrupted, putting the long-running record at risk. 

A recent $175,000 private gift to the University of Maine Foundation — equal to the site’s annual operating cost— has temporarily filled that gap, keeping the research running through next year. Without it, the towers would have gone offline this August, bringing 30 years of continuous monitoring to a standstill. 

“We have funds to continue another year. But our latest research, the student experience, the experimental work on managed versus unmanaged forests — all of it depends on the towers being operational. If the tower goes offline, we lose the context this monitoring data provides, and everything that has been built on it.� Shawn Fraver, Associate professor of forest ecology.

While the gift provides a one-year lifeline, it does not solve the underlying challenge. Sustaining this irreplaceable observatory and training ground for 91¸£Àû students aspiring to become foresters, conservationists and researchers requires .

A living benchmark

Mature, unmanaged forests are exceptionally rare in New England. Centuries of timber harvest have reset the ecological clock across nearly every landscape. 

At Howland, the forest canopy is dominated by trees between 100 and 200 years old. Some are even older. They had already stood for centuries when Henry David Thoreau passed through central Maine on his way to Mount Katahdin in the 1840s.

A yellow birch documented in the forest’s permanent research plots dates to the mid-1600s — at least 367 years, the oldest of its species on record in Maine. Cedar and hemlock that sprouted in the 1700s stand alongside fallen logs in every stage of decay. Their slow decomposition is a critical part of the carbon cycle that researchers here are still working to fully understand.

Coarse woody debris — the fallen logs and standing dead trees so characteristic of old forests — are largely absent from managed landscapes. At Howland, it is everywhere. 

The forest is surrounded by active timber operations, which makes it something else: a control site. Without Howland as a baseline for what an unmanaged forest looks like, the comparisons that inform forest management across the Northeast would be far less meaningful.

The Northeast Wilderness Trust recognized that value in 2007, when it purchased the 550-acre site and permanently protected it as forever-wild. The protection came at a critical moment: the previous owner had considered resuming active management, which would have disrupted decades of research.

“We permanently protected Howland because ancient forests are rare and have so much to teach us,â€� said Shelby Perry, the Northeast Wilderness Trust’s wildlands ecology director. “Howland shows us the unique value of wild places amid managed landscapes. What researchers learn here informs forest policy at a global scale. Keeping this land wild and keeping the research going are inseparable.â€� 

For these findings, time is priceless

When a carbon flux tower was installed at Howland in 1996, it became a founding site of the AmeriFlux network, which has spread to more than 500 monitoring stations across the Americas. 

“We measure temperature, wind speed and direction, and the air’s carbon dioxide, water and methane concentration every tenth of a  second. That’s over 315 million data series a year,â€� says Roel Ruzol, 91¸£Àû research associate and Howland Forest’s site manager. 

Ruzol keeps the towers running, coordinates access for researchers and works with Fraver to eliminate what he calls “noise,� or anomalies in the data created by rain, snow, power fluctuations or a bird perching near the equipment. They then convert these measurements into precise half-hour flux rates, that is, how much carbon the forest absorbs and releases. The findings are online for anyone to access.

“Science is a continual and ever-building process. The continuity of monitoring at Howland is a big part of what makes this data so powerful.â€� Chris Hettwer, 91¸£Àû alum.

The Howland record is now 30 years old. The forest has stored, on average, nearly 3.5 tons of carbon dioxide per acre per year. That was not unexpected, but the long-term trend was surprising, even to the researchers who built the flux network. The rate of carbon uptake is increasing over time. This old forest has not plateaued; it’s accelerating sequestration.

“If you considered just the first 10 years, you would see a slight decrease and might conclude the forest was declining as a carbon sink,� said Shawn Fraver, associate professor of forest ecology at the University of Maine, who has conducted research at Howland since 2015. “However, when viewed over 30 years, we actually see an increase. That long-term view completely changes the story.�

The trend held through climate extremes. The 30-year record spans the warmest, wettest and driest years in the past 125 for Maine. Scientists do not yet know why, but the findings, which were in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, provide the basis for experimental research that can provide actionable insights. 

Another study co-led by Fraver, whose research program is partially supported by the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station and the National Science Foundation, aims to identify the mechanisms by which forests switch from methane sources to sinks and back. Previous research showed that forest soils emit methane in wet conditions. Waterlogged soils favor the microbes that generate it. But those studies largely focused on landscapes that are known methane sources, ignoring sites like Howland that, depending on soil moisture, alternate between being a source and a sink. 

The documented source-sink switch at Howland has led to a National Science Foundation-funded project, now entering its final year, which attracted researchers from institutions across the country — San Diego State University, North Carolina State University, Arizona State University, and the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts, as well as the University of Maine. The findings are expected to meaningfully revise how methane is accounted for in forest carbon budgets.

The data from Howland have been downloaded more than 16,000 times since being made publicly available in 2007. Researchers around the world have used Howland and the data gathered there to build climate models, calibrate satellite data, advise policymakers and teach the next generation of forest scientists.

A living lab for forest management

Howland’s scientific value extends beyond the conservation land itself. Three flux towers now operate across the area: two on Northeast Wilderness Trust land and a third on property managed by American Forest Management (AFM), a forestry consulting company that has been managing harvest activity nearby in recent years. “Not every forest company would be willing to cooperate with us on this. It’s a huge benefit to us as researchers,â€� Fraver said. 

The AFM tower, established in 2012, has been tracking carbon dioxide fluxes continuously through a period of active shelterwood harvest. With the Howland towers providing an unmanaged comparison site, researchers have a rare before-and-after opportunity that almost never presents itself in landscape-scale ecology.

A newly funded $243,000 study from the will extract maximum value from that natural experiment. Combining forest inventories, LiDAR-derived biomass estimates, ground and tower-level flux measurements and carbon modeling will give managers the most comprehensive picture ever assembled of how partial harvests affect the forest carbon budget.

“American Forest Management has always believed that good forestry and good science go hand-in-hand. Hosting the tower on our client’s land is one of the most tangible ways we can contribute to that.â€� said Jeremy Miller, Region Technical Manager at AFM and alum of 91¸£Àû’s School of Forest Resources. “The NSRC study will give us an idea of how partial harvesting affects carbon dynamics in the short and long term.â€�

The results will give forest managers who want to incorporate carbon objectives into their planning, alongside timber production, a quantitative foundation to build on.

A proving ground for people and technology

Howland also serves as a key research site for 91¸£Àû graduate students, along with undergraduate field technicians who spend summers gaining hands-on experience with advanced instrumentation and long-term ecological research methods. 

Chris Hettwer, who earned his master’s degree from the School of Forest Resources in 2025, said the opportunity to work at Howland helped draw him to Fraver’s lab. 

“Working at Howland was an instrumental experience that fundamentally shaped me as a scientist,� says Hettwer, who is now pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. “In addition to learning the technical field skills for researching ecosystem processes, I gained a deeper understanding of how scientific research is conducted, communicated, and built cumulatively over time. Much of what I do now is grounded in what I learned at Howland.�

A network of approximately 150 permanent research plots distributed around the flux towers provides a training ground unlike any classroom. 

So does a 7.4-acre research plot, established by NASA in 1989 to ground-truth satellite instruments. This project led the site to be photographed from space more than anywhere else on the planet at the time. Every tree above 10 centimeters in diameter was mapped and measured. In 2015 and 2025, Fraver and his research team repeated the inventory and took core samples from 10% of the trees to track growth trends. 

That plot revealed the 367-year-old yellow birch. It also told the story of a forest shaped by centuries of disturbance: spruce budworm outbreaks, wind storms, selective harvests in the 1800s and the slow return of a mature forest carpeted with deadwood and moss. 

Howland is where emerging scientists and technology learn to read the forest.

One more year

Maintaining Howland’s flux towers, sensors and core infrastructure costs approximately $175,000 per year. That annual cost was historically covered through the federally-funded AmeriFlux network, but shifting research priorities have left the site without consistent support.

“Without this gift, the AmeriFlux tower would have shut down this August,� Fraver said. “We have funds to continue another year. But our latest research, the student experience, the experimental work on managed versus unmanaged forests — all of it depends on the towers being operational. If the tower goes offline, we lose the context this monitoring data provides, and everything that has been built on it.�

The recent private gift ensures operations through next year, but it does not establish a long-term solution. Keeping one of the longest carbon dioxide flux records in the Americas running, and preserving decades of continuous data, requires sustained annual investment.

“Science is a continual and ever-building process. The continuity of monitoring at Howland is a big part of what makes this data so powerful,â€� Hettwer said.  

The science at Howland is answering questions that matter in Maine and globally — how much carbon do mature forests sequester, how harvest practices affect forest-atmosphere interactions, and whether forest soils remove methane. These are not strictly academic questions. The findings help forest managers and policymakers make data-driven decisions in a changing world.

“The questions we are asking now about carbon, methane and how managed and unmanaged forests compare will offer critical insights for forest management in the coming decades,� Fraver said. “This forest is capable of providing those answers. It just needs the towers to keep running.�

Those interested in supporting monitoring at the Howland Research Forest may donate or contact Elizabeth Erickson,  senior director of philanthropy at the University of Maine Foundation, at elizabeth.erickson@maine.edu or 207.581.1145. 

Contact: Erin Miller, erin.miller@maine.edu

Categories:

School of Forest Resources / University of Maine Foundation

91¸£Àû Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) has announced the award winners from the 2026 91¸£Àû Student Symposium for Research and Creative Activity, which drew over 2,400 attendees.

The symposium awards undergraduate and graduate students who displayed outstanding research, presentation and creative ability. Award winners were selected through judging across academic categories, all receiving a medal and a $500 cash prize. There were also several special awards, including the Student Innovation and Commercialization Awards, given to students and faculty. 

Over 350 projects from researchers at 91¸£Àû and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias, were submitted to the annual event, co-hosted by CUGR, Student Government and the Graduate Student Government. 

Undergraduate category award winners

• Allied Health: Alyson Shook and Hannah Maker, for their project titled “Strengthening EMS Retention in Maine: A Path to Improved Patient Outcomes.â€� They were advised by Sarah Hanscome.
• Arts: William Fortier, Oliver Rodi and Mikey Arbelo, for their project titled “The Creativity of Mapping.â€� They were advised by Andy Mauery.
• Biomedical Sciences: Hayden Kittell, Diana Goode and Moria Weese-Myers, for their project titled “MHCII Expression in Differential Doses of Chemotherapy Treatment on Mice.â€� They were advised by William Otto.
• Business: Brady Merritt, for the project titled “Can Large Language Models Pass the CFA Exam.â€� Merrit was advised by Sebastian Lobe.
• Education: Carly Philbrook, for her project titled “Comparison of High School Mathematics Textbooks Analyzing Higher Order Thinking Skills in New England.â€� Philbrook was advised by Kamal Chawla.
• Engineering and Information Sciences: Elsa Perez Abella and Ahmed Kandil, for their project titled “Surface Flow Visualization Enhancement Using AI.â€� They were advised by Ahmed Aboelezz.
• Engineering and Information Sciences: Wyatt Fessler, Cadence Kluck, Isabelle Irani and Marc Zoorob, for their project titled “A Tissue-integrating, Resealable Hemodialysis Port for Reducing Complications Associated with Repetitive Vascular Access.â€� They were advised by David Neivandt.
• Interdisciplinary Research: Richard Viveiros, for the project titled “Sublethal PFAS Exposure During Larval Stages of Culex: Consequences for Development, Survivorship, and Tissue Bioacculation of PFOA, PFBA, and PFBS.â€� Viveiros was advised by Allison Gardner.
• Interdisciplinary Research: Luke Connolly, for the project titled “Nano-Pattern Fabrication Using Electron Beam Lithography.â€� Connolly was advised by Dinh Loc Duong.
• Natural Sciences: Josie Aprea, Brendan Dahl, Emma Perry and Ian Bricknell, for their project titled “pH vs. Predator.â€� Bricknell also served as advisor for the project.
• Physical and Mathematical Sciences: Avery Richard, Ziyad ur Rehman, Henry Carfagno and Nuri Emanetoglu, for their project titled “Fabrication and Characterization of Indenofluorene-based Organic Single Crystal Field-effect Transistors.â€� They were advised by Dinh Loc Duong.
• Social Sciences and Humanities: Maya Aylesworth, for the project titled “Robert Johnson, the Crossroad Mythos, and the Lasting Effects of a Legend.â€� Aylesworth was advised by Jennifer Moxley.

Graduate category award winner

• Allied Health: Katherine Brewer, for the project titled “Telehealth and Prenatal Care Utilization in Rural Communities: Addressing Access, Satisfaction, and Health Outcomes.â€� Brewer was advised by Kathryn Robinson.
• Arts: Celena Powell, for the project titled “At the Threshold: Domestic Space as a Site of Contemporary Resistance.â€� Powell was advised by Susan Smith.
• Biomedical Sciences: Chloe Bossow, Lydia McCarthy and Melody Neely, for the project titled “Interactions Between Group B Streptococcus and Candida albicans Are Influenced by Environmental Stress.â€� Neely also served as the advisor for the project.
• Education: Kayla McLagan, Kate Ruskin, Alison Jolley, Karen Pelletreau and Edgelynn Venuti, for their project titled “To What Extent Does a Weekend-long Field Course Influence Students’ Sense of Belonging? A Focus on Influential Course Elements.â€� They were advised by Kate Ruskin.
• Engineering and Information Sciences: Mahbuba Daizy, Yu Zhang, Douglas Bousfield, Jinwu Wang and David Neivandt, for their project titled “Comparison of Stabilization Systems for Soybean Wax Emulsions to Produce Sustainable Water-resistant Paper Based Packaging: Surfactant vs. Pickering.â€� Neivandt also served as the advisor for the project.
• Interdisciplinary Research: Zainab Jafri, for the project titled “Reimagining the Waste Disposal Landscape – Industrial Symbiosis in Maine.â€� Jafri was advised by Reed Miller.
• Natural Sciences: Nabanita Das, Islam Hafez, Colleen Walker, Douglas Bousfield and Mehdi Tajvidi, for their project titled “Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Cellulose Nanfibril Coatings on Molded Fiber Substrates.â€� Tajvidi also served as the advisor for the project.
• Physical and Mathematical Sciences: Hettikankanamge Kalani Samarasekara, for the project titled “Paving the Way for Novel Drug Delivery Systems: Peptoid Nanoparticles.â€� Samarasekara was advised by Alessia Battigelli.
• Social Sciences and Humanities: Catherine Segada, Chyanne Yoder, William Breneman and Gianna DeJoy, for their project titled “ReuseME: Investigating Waste Reduction and Cost Benefits in Coastal Communities Through a Pilot Reusable Food Packaging Program.â€� They were advised by Cynthia Isenhour.
• Social Sciences and Humanities: Cynthia Cushing, Catherine Taylor, Rachel Coleman, MaryLou Ciolfi, Jennifer Crittenden, Len Kaye and Sarah Currie, for their project titled “Building a Workforce Readiness Model for Older Adults: Partner Insights From AmeriCorps Seniors Workforce Development Program.â€� Crittenden also served as advisor for the project.Ìý

Student Innovation and Commercialization Awards

• First Place: Nabanita Das.
• Second Place: Amir Baharvand.
• Third Place: Noro John.

Additional awards

• Dean of Graduate School Undergraduate Mentoring Award: Joshua Hamilton.
• Dean of the Graduate School Faculty Mentor Award: Christine Beitl
• Bruce and Joanne Fournier Award: Gregory Simms, Mikayla Reynolds, Isabelle Irani and David Neivandt.
• Provost’s Innovative and Creative Teaching Award: Jillian Fedarick.
• Susan J. Hunter Undergraduate Award: Madelynn DeBest.
• Susan J. Hunter Graduate Award: Mya Griffith.Ìý

Categories:

Outreach / Research / Student Life

At the University of Maine, 41 faculty members have received tenure and/or promotion or just-cause protection status and promotion effective July 1, 2026, or September 1, 2026. The annual announcement recognizes outstanding achievement in teaching, scholarship and research, and community engagement.

Tenure for 17 of the faculty members was approved by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees on March 16.

“These promotions highlight the excellence of 91¸£Àû’s faculty. Whether in the classroom, in the lab, or the field, their accomplishments are impressive and are a testament to their commitment to student success, discovery, and service to the state. We take great pride in the achievements of these faculty,â€� says Gabriel Paquette, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at 91¸£Àû.

“Each promotion and tenure decision reflects both individual excellence and the strength of our academic community,â€� said 91¸£Àû President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “As a learner-centered R1 university, we advance research that matters while keeping students at the heart of all we do. These faculty exemplify that mission.â€�

University of Maine

Promoted to Professor

• College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences
  • Alicia Cruz-Uribe, Petrology and Mineralogy
  • Adam Daigneault, Forest Policy and Economics
  • Shawn Fraver, Forest Ecology
  • Daniel Hayes, Geospatial Analysis and Remote Sensing
  • Anil Kizhakkepurakkal, Forest Operations
  • Melissa Maginnis, Microbiology
  • Caroline Noblet, Economics
  • Aaron Putnam, Earth Sciences
  • Kelley Strout, Nursing
  • Timothy Waring, Social-Ecological Systems of Modeling
• College of Education and Human Development
  • Catharine Biddle, Educational Leadership
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Ryan Dippre, English
  • William Gramlich, Chemistry
  • Gregory Zaro, Anthropology and Climate Change
• Maine College of Engineering and Computing
  • Caitlin Howell, Bioengineering
  • Thomas Schwartz, Chemical Engineering

Promoted to Extension Professor

• Cooperative Extension
  • Colt Knight, Extension Livestock Educator

Promoted to Professor with Tenure

• College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences
  • Lisa Kerr, Fisheries Science

Granted Tenure at Current Rank of Professor

• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Jonathan Barron, English

Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure

• College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences
  • Noah Charney, Conservation Biology
  • Katherine Weatherford Darling, Health Science
  • Philip Fanning, Agricultural Entomology
  • Jonathan Malacarne, Agricultural Economics
  • Jane Puhlman, Communication Sciences and Disorders
  • Jessica Riccardi, Communication Sciences and Disorders
• College of Education and Human Development
  • Melissa Cuba, Special Education
  • Kathleen Gillon, Higher Education
  • Daniel Puhlman, Family Studies
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Gilbert Moss, Mathematics
  • Neel Patel, Mathematics
  • Franziska Peterson, Mathematics Education
  • Nimesha Ranasinghe, Spatial Informatics
  • Johanna Richlin, Anthropology
  • Jane Wang, Mathematics

Promoted to Associate Extension Professor with Continuing Contract

• Cooperative Extension
  • Sean Birkel, Climate Services
  • Michael Habte-tsion, Fish Nutrition
  • Glenda Pereira Parente, Animal Science/Dairy Specialist

Promoted to Associate Professor

• College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences
  • Christina Murphy, USGS Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Promoted to Senior Lecturer with Just-Cause 

• College of Education and Human Development
  • Maria Frankland, Educational Leadership
• College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
  • Matthew Bates, Mathematics

University of Maine at Machias

Promoted to Senior Lecturer with Just-Cause 

• University of Maine at Machias
  • Daniel Ellis, English

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

91¸£Àû will honor five faculty members with its 2026 Presidential Awards, recognizing excellence in research, teaching, innovation, public engagement and extraordinary impact.

This year’s recipients are:

• Mehdi Tajvidi, Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award.
• Darren Ranco, Presidential Public Engagement Achievement Award.
• Jay Wason, Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award.
• Melissa Ladenheim, Black Bear Award for Extraordinary Impact.
• William Davids, Presidential Innovation Award.

“These awards recognize the very best of the University of Maine,� said President Joan Ferrini-Mundy. “Each of these individuals demonstrates a deep commitment to excellence, innovation and service. Their work strengthens our university, advances knowledge and makes a meaningful difference for the people of Maine and beyond.�

Mehdi Tajvidi

Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award

Mehdi Tajvidi, professor of renewable nanomaterials in the School of Forest Resources and Advanced Structures and Composites Center, is recognized for internationally distinguished research and scholarship. The award honors faculty whose work contributes knowledge to issues of local, national and global significance.

Since joining 91¸£Àû in 2013, Tajvidi has focused on the production, characterization and performance of renewable nanomaterials and their composites. His research centers on cellulose nanomaterials for applications including coatings, packaging and building products, spanning work from foundational science to industrial trials.

“Mehdi’s work reflects research leadership that brings global visibility to 91¸£Àû while delivering real value to our state,â€� Ferrini-Mundy said. “His focus on sustainable innovation is helping address important challenges in materials and manufacturing.â€�

Tajvidi’s lab has developed bio-based alternatives to synthetic materials, including technologies to replace formaldehyde-based resins in building products and PFAS in molded fiber packaging, as well as foam products used in packaging. He has also launched a line of research in mycelium-based biocomposites, using fungal materials to produce low-density insulation and packaging products.

His work supports collaborations with Maine-based and national companies and contributes to new product development in the forest products industry. He also mentors graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and undergraduates who have gone on to careers in academia, industry and national laboratories.

Darren Ranco

Presidential Public Engagement Achievement Award

Darren Ranco, professor of anthropology, faculty fellow in the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, and chair of Native American Programs, is recognized for public engagement that applies academic expertise to enhance the public good.

Since returning to Maine in 2009, Ranco, a Penobscot Nation citizen who grew up in Orono, has worked with Wabanaki Tribal Nations on environmental and cultural issues. His work includes leadership on responses to the emerald ash borer, an invasive species that threatens ash trees used in traditional basket making. His efforts contributed to agreements among tribal nations, the state and federal agencies.

“Darren’s work reflects a deep commitment to partnership and to connecting the university’s expertise with community needs,� Ferrini-Mundy said. “He builds relationships that lead to meaningful, lasting impact.�

He has also supported tribal climate resilience and land return efforts, working with communities to develop priorities, establish baselines and create plans to address environmental change. 

Ranco has contributed to strengthening relationships between the university and tribal communities, including efforts to support collaboration and culturally informed research practices.

His public engagement includes educational initiatives supporting the development of Wabanaki studies curriculum, public talks, working with legislators to support environmentally and culturally sound legislation, and participation in projects that address community needs.

Jay Wason

Presidential Outstanding Teaching Award

Jay Wason, associate professor of forest ecosystem physiology in the School of Forest Resources, is recognized for advancing student learning through teaching and mentorship.

Since joining 91¸£Àû in 2018, Wason has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in forest biology, plant structure and function, and research methods. His teaching emphasizes scientific thinking and applying knowledge to new problems.

“Jay’s teaching reflects a commitment to student learning that both challenges and supports students,� Ferrini-Mundy said. “He helps students build confidence and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways.�

His courses incorporate hands-on laboratory work, group activities and opportunities for students to design experiments and analyze data. These approaches support active learning and encourage students to engage directly with course material.

Student evaluations consistently highlight his preparation, clarity and enthusiasm, as well as his ability to help students understand complex topics.

In addition to teaching, Wason mentors undergraduate and graduate students and contributes to instructional development within his department.

Melissa Ladenheim

Black Bear Award for Extraordinary Impact

Melissa Ladenheim, associate dean of the Honors College, is recognized for exceeding expectations and making an extraordinary impact through service and leadership.

She coordinates the Maine Day Meal Packout, a campus-wide initiative that provides meals to food-insecure communities across the state. A central part of Maine Day Week of Service, the effort engages approximately 400 to 500 volunteers each year. Since its early years in the 2010s, the initiative will surpass 800,000 meals packed and distributed with the culmination of this year’s event.

“Melissa’s leadership shows how service can bring people together while creating opportunities for students to lead,� Ferrini-Mundy said. “Her work inspires a strong culture of engagement on campus and beyond.�

The Maine Day Meal Packout is student-driven, with a leadership team playing key roles in fundraising, logistics and partnerships, while Ladenheim oversees and coordinates the initiative. Through that work, students gain experience in leadership, project management and community engagement while contributing to a statewide effort to address food insecurity.

Ladenheim is also involved in the Servant Heart Research Collaborative, which develops educational initiatives addressing social and learning challenges in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti and Uganda. Through this work, she helped create and build the National Education Test Tool, an online platform that prepares students in Sierra Leone for national exams, as well as the Attachment Theory Workshop, a caregiver training program focused on fostering healthy attachments in children who have experienced trauma.

Her work reflects a sustained commitment to service and student development, with impact across campus, throughout Maine and internationally.

Bill Davids

Presidential Innovation Award

Bill Davids, Bodwell University Distinguished Professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering, is recognized for translating research into technologies with economic and societal impact.

Over nearly three decades at 91¸£Àû, Davids has focused on engineering research that supports innovation and real-world application. He is a co-inventor of the CT Girder, a fiber-reinforced polymer bridge beam that is significantly lighter than steel and resistant to corrosion. The technology has been used in bridge construction projects in Maine, Rhode Island and Florida.

“Bill’s work demonstrates how research at 91¸£Àû can translate into practical solutions that strengthen infrastructure and support economic development,â€� Ferrini-Mundy said. “He connects innovation with real-world impact.â€�

He has also contributed to the development of the Continuous Forming Machine, a manufacturing technology for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic materials. This work has supported the creation of a startup company that is generating revenue, attracting investment and building a manufacturing facility in Maine.

His research has also contributed to improved methods for evaluating and maintaining bridges, helping extend the service life of infrastructure and reduce the need for repair and replacement.

Through collaboration with students and industry partners, Davids’ work has produced practical outcomes that advance engineering practice and support infrastructure solutions.

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

Categories:

News / Outreach / School of Forest Resources

As the May 1 college decision deadline approaches, students are showing increased interest in academic programs with clear career pathways.

At the University of Maine, that trend is evident across disciplines tied to growing sectors of the U.S. economy, including engineering, health care and biomedical sciences, business, natural resources and environmental sciences, agriculture and food systems, communication sciences and disorders, and biotechnology.

University data highlight several indicators of that demand:

• Mechanical engineering enrollment has increased by more than 30% over the past decade, with a 95% student satisfaction rate.
• The wildlife, fisheries and conservation biology program reports that 95% of graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school, with 82% working in natural resource fields.
• The Maine Business School, which will enroll 330 first-year students, filled nearly half of those seats before April and reports a 94% positive outcome rate.
• In animal and veterinary sciences, about 20% of graduates continue to veterinary or medical school.
• Health-related fields tied to several majors are projected to see continued jobgrowth over the next decade.

Mechanical engineering

91¸£Àû’s mechanical engineering program, now the university’s largest major, has expanded in response to national demand for engineers in industries including manufacturing, technology and transportation.

Enrollment has increased by more than 30% over the past decade. Graduates are recruited by employers such as Bath Iron Works, Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Texas Instruments, GE and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

The curriculum progresses from foundational coursework in math and physics to advanced engineering applications, with an emphasis on analysis, design and problem-solving. Experiential learning is integrated throughout, with students participating in internships, co-ops and a yearlong senior capstone design sequence focused on design, prototyping and testing.

Students may pursue concentrations such as aerospace engineering, along with minors or certificates in robotics, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing. The program reports a 95% positive student sentiment rate.

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Wildlife, fisheries and conservation biology

The wildlife, fisheries and conservation biology program has more than doubled in enrollment over the past two decades, reflecting sustained interest in conservation and natural resource careers.

The curriculum emphasizes field-based learning. More than half of courses include outdoor labs, and students complete a required immersive field experience in Downeast Maine that is frequently cited as a defining part of their education. More than 80% of undergraduates report that fieldwork influenced their decision to enroll.

Students gain experience through field surveys, internships and research. 91¸£Àû 70% complete field experiences, and more than half participate in faculty-led research. Faculty and students have also produced more than 140 peer-reviewed publications and secured nearly $16 million in research funding during the past five years.

Among graduates, 95% are employed or enrolled in graduate school, and 82% work in natural resource fields.

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Speech, pre-medical and biomedical sciences

91¸£Àû is reporting increased interest in programs that prepare students for careers in health care, research and biotechnology, reflecting broader national workforce trends.

Fields such as speech-language pathology and audiology are projected to experience above-average job growth over the next decade, according to federal labor data. Demand is influenced by factors including an aging population and expanded access to care.

Programs in communication sciences and disorders, biology, biochemistry and microbiology provide preparation for graduate study and professional careers, including speech-language pathology as well as medical, dental and veterinary school.

Students frequently participate in faculty-led research, gaining experience that supports applications to graduate programs or entry into the workforce. Faculty say the programs emphasize both academic preparation and applied learning.

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Business

The Maine Business School is nearing capacity for its incoming class, reflecting strong student demand for business education.

The program will enroll 330 first-year students, and nearly half of those seats were filled before April. Administrators say the pace of enrollment indicates sustained interest throughout the admissions cycle.

Students are drawn to the flexibility of the degree, particularly the general business major, which allows exploration across disciplines before selecting a concentration. Finance and marketing remain among the most popular areas of study.

The school reported a 94% positive outcome rate for the Class of 2024, defined as graduates employed, enrolled in graduate school or participating in service programs within six months. Officials say the program is designed to prepare students for a range of careers across industries.

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Animal and veterinary sciences

Enrollment in 91¸£Àû’s animal and veterinary sciences program has increased since before the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting demand for careers in animal health, veterinary medicine and agriculture.

The program prepares students for careers in veterinary medicine, research and agriculture-related fields. 91¸£Àû 20% of graduates continue to veterinary or medical school, while others enter the workforce directly.

Students gain hands-on experience at the university’s J.F. Witter Teaching and Research Center, where they work with animals in applied settings and develop practical skills.

All students also participate in research with faculty on topics including animal health, environmental systems and disease. Faculty say the program is structured to support both exploration and career preparation as workforce demand continues to grow.

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Contact: David Nordman, david.nordman@maine.edu 

University of Maine ecology professor Brian McGill has been named a 2026 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow, one of the highest honors in the scientific community.

AAAS Fellows are a group of scientists, engineers and innovators recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public. 

Other AAAS Fellows from 91¸£Àû have included Susan Brawley, professor emerita of plant biology and marine ecology and 2012 AAAS Fellow; Joyce Longcore, research professor of fungal pathogens and 2012 AAAS Fellow; Daniel Sandweiss, professor of anthropology and climate studies and 2014 AAAS Fellow; and R. Dean Astumian, professor of physics and 2016 AAAS Fellow; and Heather Leslie, professor of marine sciences and 2022 AAAS Fellow.

“I am grateful to have my research recognized by this honorary fellowship. I’ve been lucky to have great collaborators and students throughout. I take this recognition as a challenge to do bolder, more innovative research and teaching to find the solutions so badly needed to enable humans to successfully coexist with nature before irreversible changes happen,â€� McGill said. 

McGill studies biodiversity at large scales of space and time across many species. His 

ideas have a wide-ranging impact in his field of macroecology. 

McGill’s 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. He 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 “Dynamic Ecology,� 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 as many as 700,000 visits per year, is the most widely read in academic ecology.

In addition to being named a AAAS Fellow, 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. In 2023, he was awarded the Humboldt Research Award, one of the most prestigious scientific honors in Germany. He also received the  91¸£Àû Presidential Research and Creative Achievement award in 2024, 2020 Outstanding Faculty Research Award from what is today 91¸£Àû’s College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. 

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. 

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

From potato farms to global shipping lanes, ideas from Maine’s R&D department are making an impact 

Mainers are known for their Yankee ingenuity, and researchers at the University of Maine are no exception. Our knack for making do and inventing better ways of doing things embodies the resourceful culture of the Pine Tree State. 

For 160 years, Maine’s public research university has created practical, accessible education and discoveries that drive progress for the state and beyond. Today, thousands of projects across Maine and around the world work to make life better. 

Here are just a few of the bright ideas from :

Invented at 91¸£Àû:

Maine’s favorite potato

That satisfying signature crunch in your next bag of potato chips may be a product of 91¸£Àû innovation. 

The high-yielding Caribou Russet matures quickly and performs well for chip and french fry processors and fresh retail markets — attributes that made the potato Maine’s most sown spud in and . The variety, developed by 91¸£Àû in partnership with the Maine Potato Board at the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station’s Aroostook Farm, debuted in 2015 after more than a decade of development. 

More than 80% of Maine’s vegetable cropland is dedicated to potatoes. The crop an estimated $1.3 billion and more than 6,500 jobs in 2022. 91¸£Àû tests more than 250 new potato varieties each year to find the next spud that will outperform others from the field and to the fryer. 

More bridge for your bucks 

91¸£Àû engineers have reimagined how bridges are built. Inventions like 91¸£Àû’s award-winning — which helped raise the Gristmill Bridge in Hampden — encases concrete arches in composite materials that protect against corrosion, effectively doubling structural longevity. Meanwhile, 3D printed girders from 91¸£Àû spinoff AIT Composites, a part of Basalt International, will uphold the new bridge under construction over the Stillwater River in Old Town. 

Other 91¸£Àû-originated technology, like 3D printed culvert diffusers, strengthens and extends the life of aging infrastructure, offering cost-savings and keeping roads running. On the horizon, the aims to develop AI-assisted design tools and advanced composite materials that make it possible to construct bridges at half the cost, in half the time, and with twice the lifespan of many conventional designs. Other 91¸£Àû’s spinoffs like are creating lighter, corrosion resistant alternatives to steel construction materials like flexible rebar. 

A sculpture that harnesses the sun to make learning math fun

The helps people visualize multiplication and division through play. 

91¸£Àû mathematics educators and artists put their heads together to develop the interactive outdoor sculpture, which made its debut in Orono’s Webster Park in 2022. As users adjust the sculpture’s reflective plate, beams of light shift across a grid to model how numbers scale and relate. 

The solar calculator invites learners of all ages to illuminate abstract mathematical concepts through light and motion.

Transforming wood waste into affordable housing

Layer by layer, 91¸£Àû researchers are driving down the cost, build time and environmental impact of housing. is the world’s first fully forest-derived, 3D-printed house. The structure, built outside 91¸£Àû’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center in 2022, is made from corn glue and sawdust.  

Houses like BioHome3D can be customized, transported and assembled in a fraction of the time of traditional homes. At the end of the structure’s life, it can be ground up and reprinted, cutting construction waste and costs. It also creates a new market for Maine’s forest sector, which is awash with wood pulp following the decline of paper mills. 

The first prototype has withstood three Maine winters, proving that affordable, locally sourced materials that require far less labor that require far less labor can help replace traditional stick built homes. Now, 91¸£Àû is with the nonprofit Penquis to build an affordable housing community in Brewer with nine 3D-printed homes to help address the state’s housing shortage. 

Helping people with limited vision live and learn

More than 23 million Americans have vision impairment. Those affected are significantly less likely to earn a degree — about two-thirds lower than in the general population — and 30% do not travel independently. Researchers at 91¸£Àû aim to change those statistics through innovation. 

The 91¸£Àû spinoff UNAR (Universal Accessibility Research) develops technology that helps make digital information accessible to people — no matter how well they can or cannot see. Products like Morf, which instantly transforms math documents into a format that is compatible with screen readers or as a Braille file for embossing, help make education more accessible. 

91¸£Àû’s VEMI Lab led the development of an award-winning app, Autonomous Vehicle Assistant (AVA), that people with visual impairments and seniors safely navigate around obstacles, like ice, on foot and summon self-driving vehicles offered by ride-sharing services. 

Cargo containers that tattle on thieves

Researchers at 91¸£Àû and Georgia Tech developed shipping containers that guard against cargo theft, which Homeland Security Investigations costs the American economy $15-35 billion per year. The team developed a faster method for constructing lighter shipping containers with embedded sensors, integrating security directly into the structure.

The technology sparked a spinoff company, Global Secure Shipping, which embedded the sensor the team developed into composite shipping containers, enabling supply chain managers to track whether they have been tampered with, and in the process, created dozens of jobs for Mainers. 

A spinoff that saves soldiers’ lives

What started as an idea at 91¸£Àû’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center has grown into a life-saving enterprise. Founded by Paul Melrose (‘02, ‘04 G) , Compotech is rooted in 91¸£Àû-developed materials and methods. Today, the Brewer-based company designs, manufactures and deploys next-generation protection systems for the U.S. military, creating high-paying jobs in the state.

Compotech’s flagship product, the Expeditionary Shelter Protection System, uses lightweight fiber-reinforced composite armor panels that are easy to transport, fast to deploy and protect against ballistic and blast threats. The company’s precipitous growth has been recognized as one of the nation’s fastest-growing on the Inc. 5000 list for the . 

Steadfast steel

From machine bearings to airplane parts, high-carbon steel keeps manufacturing and travel running smoothly. 

While people have been smelting steel for millennia, manufacturers in the 1920s were able to examine the metal with new precision. They found microscopic cracks were covertly lowering the steel’s resistance to bending, twisting and impact. 

Corporations spent decades studying the issue, but it wasn’t until the 1980s when Professor John Lyman, a mechanical engineer at 91¸£Àû, found a solution after combing through all the technical literature he could find on the issue for about 15 years. “Happily, the very first thing I tried worked,â€� he said in a of 91¸£Àû’s Alumni Association magazine. 

Lyman introduced additional steps to the final hardening process that controlled the formation of crystals in the steel, essentially eliminating the troublesome cracks. It was a question, Lyman said, of “getting all the available knowledge in my head and walking around with it. It popped into my head; I tried it and it worked.�

On the horizon: The world’s next super product

Throughout history, people’s lives have been shaped by the tools and products they use. From Stone Age tools to today’s pervasive plastics, what we use makes one of our most lasting marks on history. If the promising possibilities being developed in 91¸£Àû’s research labs are realized, future archaeologists may struggle to find traces of the next big everywhere material.

Nanocellulose is nature’s super polymer. This biodegradable, plant-derived substance is poised to revolutionize everyday products. 

The potential applications for nanocellulose are nearly limitless. At 91¸£Àû, researchers work on the leading edge of these developments. These products of 91¸£Àû ingenuity include:

• An alternative to current implantable materials that can be resorbed by the body as bones heal, reducing the need for costly follow-up surgeries.
• Completely compostable food containers that are free of plastic and forever chemicals.Ìý
• A that uses nanocellulose and wild blueberry extracts to help chronic wounds heal faster and more completely.
• Tougher particle board for furniture and countertops that sequesters carbon and is free of cancer-causing formaldehyde.Ìý
• A new class of building products that includes scratch-, fire- and water-resistant flooring systems, moldable wall panels and a fire-resistant alternative to drywall that is lighter and offers superior insulation.Ìý

91¸£Àû leads the nation in the supply of cellulose nanofiber and powers research with this promising material by supplying it to research labs around the globe. At the university’s Process Development Center, nanocellulose is primarily made from the wood pulp generated by forest stewardship activities. The material can also be made from wood waste and recycled fiber.

Contact: Erin Miller, erin.miller@maine.edu.