Scientists

Many of you may be familiar with the New England Cottontail from a past Hot Topic! we posted here a little over a year ago now. Didn't see that post? Check it out HERE.

Picasa, DAB3218

First detected in Michigan in 2002, the emerald ash borer (EAB) has now spread to at least 24 states and two Canadian provinces. EAB infestations have been reported in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. So, although Maine has not had any recorded infestations, EAB is only 20-30 miles away and the Maine Forest Service says they are preparing for the inevitable. Maine citizen scientists can help by monitoring with Mission: Emerald ash borer.

Guest blog post by Amanda Ripa's students from Messalonskee Middle School:
At Messalonskee Middle School, we have a stormwater pond behind our school. Despite collecting polluted water, there are many living things. During nature journaling, we noticed that there were a lot of crayfish! We put out a trap and the next day, the trap was full! From this observation, we wanted to answer our research question, “Are the crayfish in our pond invasive?”

Guest blog post from Pat Parent from Massabesic Middle School.
The Massabesic Middle School Aroostook Team’s 2nd Invasive Species Forum on November 20th was quite the hit. We decided to collect data from visitors to the Forum to get an idea of who is attending. We were also trying to get an idea of how much people knew about invasive species prior to their visit to our Forum and the overall impression of the Forum. The following are some of our findings.

Sarah Kirn, the Education Programs Strategist here at GMRI was recently on the radio program Maine Calling to discuss Citizen Science, including the opportunities here at GMRI such as Vital Signs, Snap-a-Striper, and Maine Jellyfish Tracking. Listen to the archive here on the MPBN website.