{"id":33717,"date":"2025-02-11T10:54:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T15:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/?page_id=33717"},"modified":"2025-02-12T08:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T13:36:12","slug":"tegwin-taylor-outstanding-contribution-by-an-external-partner-to-sustainability-research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/tegwin-taylor-outstanding-contribution-by-an-external-partner-to-sustainability-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Tegwin Taylor: Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Tegwin<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Tegwin Taylor, raised in a rural Iowa community, always knew she would be a scientist. Her grandfather was a veterinarian. \u201cI honestly did not consider any other career path,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientific inquiry drives Taylor. It motivated her to pursue a master\u2019s in public health and focus on infectious diseases, examining the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and the environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequent roles as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

veterinary epidemiologist, an Acting One Health Coordinator for the National Park Service, and a crew supervisor and volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center\u2019s Monterey Bay Operations <\/p>\n\n\n\n

further developed her expertise in the intersections between public health and wildlife disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taylor originally moved to Maine to pursue a doctorate in ecology and environmental sciences at 91福利. Her studies slowed down when new opportunities arose, and she accepted a full-time position as a wildlife health biologist at Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife<\/a> (MDIFW). One of her primary roles at MDIFW is to assist with PFAS, the so-called \u201cForever Chemicals\u201d, surveillance in Maine\u2019s wildlife \u2014 a complex multidimensional problem connected to the health of Mainers, the environment, and wildlife \u2014 and it\u2019s a role Taylor is uniquely suited for.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her nominator, Dr. Caroline Noblet<\/a>, an associate professor of economics at 91福利 said, \u201cTegwin has helped 91福利 researchers connect and form multiple teams, including Maine Department Inland Fisheries and Wildlife personnel (biologist, communication specialists) with 91福利 researchers and students from a variety of disciplines, to tackle ‘wicked’ questions about PFAS in Maine’s wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, the Mitchell Center convened a meeting attended by state officials, agency researchers, and 91福利 faculty to discuss priorities for addressing PFAS contamination in wildlife. Several 91福利 research projects emerged from this meeting, and Taylor serves as an advisor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One project focuses on hunters’ perceptions of PFAS<\/a> and how PFAS are potentially impacting their behaviors and interest in hunting. Another study investigates PFAS buildup in wood turtles, a species that is experiencing widespread decline in the eastern U.S. Wood turtles spend their winters fully submerged in small to midsized streams, including some streams with high concentrations of PFAS. Taylor also helps facilitate a study examining how PFAS in wildlife may impact overall health, examining the animals\u2019 microbiomes, fitness parameters, and immune responses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Taylor took the role at MDIFW, she acknowledged that she was disheartened by the breadth of challenges created by PFAS contamination. But, her collaborations with colleagues and researchers on the local, state, and federal levels has changed her perspectives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the monster of an issue that PFAS is, everyone really values the collaboration and realizes that it really takes a village. We would not be able to do what we\u2019ve been able to do without the collaboration of landowners impacted by PFAS, our state\u2019s leadership and inter-agency colleagues as well as the university,\u201d Taylor said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tegwin Taylor, raised in a rural Iowa community, always knew she would be a scientist. Her grandfather was a veterinarian. \u201cI honestly did not consider any other career path,\u201d she said.\u00a0 Scientific inquiry drives Taylor. It motivated her to pursue a master\u2019s in public health and focus on infectious diseases, examining the interconnectedness of human […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":957,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_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-33717","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"mitchellcenter","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/author\/mitchellcenter\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33717"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33756,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33717\/revisions\/33756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}