The Maine Question

If you’ve ever bought something at a yard sale or a flea market, if you’ve ever left a piece of furniture or some other item out on the sidewalk for someone else to take and use, you’ve taken part in the reuse economy. And it’s a bigger part of the overall Maine economy than you might imagine. Cindy Isenhour, associate professor of anthropology who also works with the Climate Change Institute and the Senator George J. Mitchell Center, has studied this topic for several years now — why the reuse economy is so robust in Maine and where this trend is going.

The green crab is a voracious invasive species that is wreaking havoc on many popular types of seafood species and in Maine's fishing communities. What if you could help solve this problem the next time you go to a restaurant or even when you buy a bag of treats for your dog? UMaine food scientists are looking into these and other solutions to control the green crab.

From streams and ponds to the Gulf of Maine, water defines the state of Maine in many ways. For thousands of years, counting or harvesting the plants and animals in those bodies of water has been pretty low-tech, usually involving nets of some sort. Now a new technology can do this counting using DNA and this tool will revolutionize and expand how this work is done. Beyond that it will allow the public, school groups, coastal residents and others to contribute as citizen scientists and it will enhance Maine's workforce and promote high-tech jobs as well. Michael Kinnison, a professor of evolutionary applications at UMaine speaks with us about the potential for Maine eDNA.

The Maine Question is a podcast series from the University of Maine that explores how researchers, innovators and changemakers at UMaine are taking on the big questions and issues of our time