Research Units
Maine is one of the country’s premier locations to study forestry and nature-based recreation and tourism. Ninety percent of the state is forested—the highest percentage in the nation. Reflecting the importance of forests to the state, our campus has state-of-the-art academic and research programs to ensure the sustainability of forests and their many uses.
UMaine Climate Change Institute
The Climate Change Institute is an interdisciplinary research unit organized to conduct research and graduate education focused on the variability of Earth’s climate, ecosystems, and other environmental systems and on the interaction between humans and the natural environment. The Institute provides expertise on climate-related matters to the people and governments of Maine, the Nation, and beyond.
Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Project
The Acadian Forest Ecosystem Research Program (AFERP) was initiated in 1993 to investigate the ecological effects of silviculture methods inspired by patterns of natural disturbance in the Acadian forest. Since its inception, AFERP scientists have been engaged in multi-disciplinary research examining the influence of expanding-gap methods on a variety of ecological responses, including: forest stand dynamics, understory vegetation, downed woody debris (DWD), songbirds, amphibians, arthropods, and epiphytes.
ASCC – Advanced Structures and Composites Center
An internationally known center of excellence for research and product development of wood composites and structural materials, with in-house capacity to meet market demands from concept to development, and testing to commercialization. AEWC personnel includes more than 100 graduate and undergraduate student researchers.
Wheatland Geospatial Lab
The Barbara Wheatland Geospatial Analysis Laboratory in Nutting Hall was created and endowed with a generous grant from the Maine Timberlands Charitable Trust (MTCT). The new lab ensures that current and future SFR students have access to state of the art remote sensing and geospatial analysis research and teaching facilities. The lab includes 40 dual-monitor computer workstations with the latest hardware and software, furniture, and modern lighting.
Read more about the Wheatland Lab
Center for Research on Sustainable Forests
Formed to serve as an information clearinghouse for forest scientists and the public, the CRSF compliments UMaine’s School of Forest Resources, houses the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit, and has over 30 cooperating faculty members across the University. Additionally, the Center is part of the Northeastern States Research Cooperative – a competitive grants program that funds research on the 26-million-acre Northern Forests, which covers much of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.
Cooperative Forestry Research Unit
The CFRU is one of the oldest forest land-owner cooperatives in the nation, offering a direct working relationship between UMaine and 8.4 million acres of private forest land. CFRU conducts applied research to provide Maine’s policymakers and forest landowners with the information needed to ensure both sustainable forest management and effective public policy.
Forest Bioproducts Research Institute
Created in 2005, the FBRI is an interdisciplinary research initiative that seeks to create the building blocks of a “bioeconomy” both here in Maine and around the world. Using forest-based materials to create biofuels and a wide range of industrial and consumer products typically derived from fossil fuels, FBRI is on the cutting-edge of the transition to a sustainable global economy.
Maine Agricultural & Forest Experiment Station
The Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station is an important center for research in agriculture, forest resources, aquaculture, and rural economic development.
Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative
The Center for Sustainability Solutions strives to be a leader and valued partner in understanding and solving societal problems related to the growing challenge of improving human well-being while protecting the planet’s life support systems. Projects span fields such as forestry and agriculture, climate and energy, urbanization, coastal systems and freshwater resources.
University Forests
The University Forest Office is responsible for coordinating research, education and recreational activities on 13,000 acres of forest owned by UMaine and the University of Maine Foundation. Included is the Dwight B. Demeritt Forest – a 2,000-acre forest adjoining campus, and the Penobscot Experimental Forest – a 4,200 acre experimental forest researching the long-term impacts of forest management.
Additionally, the Holt Research Forest in Arrowsic, is the site of a long-term forest ecosystem study that began in 1983. The project is a collaborative effort by the School of Forest Resources and Wildlife faculty under the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences.