Maine INBRE Institutions

The MDI Biological Laboratory leads the Maine INBRE. The Institution is located in Salisbury Cove, Maine, on the shores of Frenchman Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Founded in 1898, the Institution is internationally recognized for biomedical research leading to advances in human health. Research at the MDI Biological Laboratory   is based on the premise that comparative studies of a range of evolutionarily diverse organisms with unique environmental adaptations provide important biological insights. The major research focus is the biology of tissue regeneration and aging, and how those processes are both genetically regulated and shaped by the environment. In addition to being the lead institution in the Maine INBRE, MDI Biological Laboratory is has been designated an NIH-NIGMS Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Tissue Repair, Regeneration and Aging. Diversity is at the very core of the MDI Biological Laboratory, among both its scientists and the organisms they study. ...

Bates College , founded in 1855 by Maine abolitionists, is a liberal arts and sciences college recognized for the quality of educational experiences it provides. Bates offers its 1,750 students a curriculum and faculty that challenge them to attain intellectual achievements and to develop powers of critical assessment, analysis, expression, and independent thought. The student-faculty ratio is under 10:1, and all classes and laboratory sessions are taught by PhD faculty. Bates offers 39 fields of study (33 majors) and opportunities for guided interdisciplinary study. Additionally, Bates is one of a small number of colleges and universities requiring a senior thesis/capstone experience in all majors. The thesis enables students to benefit from the opportunity for closely guided research, writing, performance, or studio work. One-quarter of seniors graduate with majors in mathematics or a scientific discipline, and 45 percent of Bates alumni who earn a PhD do so in the life sciences, physical...

Bowdoin College  is a four-year liberal arts college comprised of 1,700 students and 170 faculty members. Bowdoin, the oldest college in Maine, consistently ranks among the nation’s top ten liberal arts colleges. A selectivity rate of 18.4%, a student-faculty ratio of 10:1, and a science curriculum grounded in faculty-mentored undergraduate research, make Bowdoin’s science program particularly robust. Over the past five years, 21% of graduates have majored in biology, biochemistry, chemistry or neuroscience. Between 90–100 students engage in research at Bowdoin each summer, nearly doubling the number from the beginning of the decade. Half of these are in the biosciences. Over 20% of faculty publications (1991-2000) in the natural sciences had student co-authors. Since January 2004, Bowdoin faculty in the biological sciences have received more than $4 million from NIH and NSF in support of research and the acquisition of scientific equipment. Evidence of strong institutional commitment to the...

Colby College , chartered in 1813, is the 12th oldest independent liberal arts college in the US and the 5th oldest in New England. The College has been coeducational since 1871, the first previously all-male college in New England to admit women. Colby has evolved into a highly selective liberal arts college enrolling some of the most academically talented undergraduates in the country. With a student to faculty ratio of 10:1, students have a great deal of access to professors and abundant opportunities for collaborative, original research with faculty. Grants, including INBRE, and support from Colby’s endowments provide summer research stipends for 60 undergraduate science and psychology students per year. These research experiences lead to student-coauthored papers and presentations, and over 70% of students go on to graduate work. Emphasis on the integration of teaching and scholarship has led to the development of research courses based upon faculty research programs. Faculty h...

College of the Atlantic (COA) is located four miles from the MDI Biological Laboratory and two miles from The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. A four-year liberal arts college called "the graduate school for undergraduates," COA has a non-departmental 30-member faculty, an experiential approach to education and a curriculum focused on human ecology, the investigation and study of the interrelationships among humans and their social, natural, and constructed environments. Students are given extraordinary access to faculty and staff and assume responsibility for designing their own course of study, including courses, tutorials, independent study, research, internships, and a capstone independent senior project. COA’s mission is education for environmental and social responsibility, and its interdisciplinary focus on human ecology centers on the study of complex systems. This focus has put it on the cutting edge of non-traditional liberal arts education and environmental studies. H...

The University of New England (UNE) is a research institution (Carnegie R2) located in southern Maine that grants both undergraduate and graduate degrees and is the largest educator of health professionals in Maine. Dedication to “focused research and scholarship” is one of six priorities outlined by UNE President James D. Herbert in his strategic plan for the University. As such, students are engaged in research that is intellectually stimulating, regionally responsive, and globally relevant at all stages of their education. UNE’s addition to the INBRE network builds upon the strong work conducted by UNE’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for the Study of Pain and Sensory Function, itself an NIGMS IDeA-funded program. COBRE programs support thematic, multidisciplinary research centers that strengthen institutional biomedical research capacity. The mission of UNE’s COBRE center is to enhance the scientific understanding of the neurobiology of chronic pain, facilitatin...

The Jackson Laboratory , an INBRE Research Institution Partner, is a non-profit mammalian genetics research institution founded in 1929 in Bar Harbor. It is a pioneer and leading center in functional genomics and interdisciplinary approaches to biological research, with a focus on the mouse as a basic investigative platform. Located six miles from the MDI Biological Laboratory, the Jackson Laboratory has more than 1,700 employees, including a total research staff of over 500. The Jackson Laboratory has harnessed the genetic diversity within inbred and mutant strains of mice to study the complex genetics of diseases such as cancers, diabetes, glaucoma, and epilepsy. The collaborative Institute for Molecular Biophysics, established in 2003 with NSF EPSCoR funding, brings together scientists in biology, genetics, physics, chemistry, and engineering to investigate cell structures at the nanoscale. Since 1983, the Jackson Laboratory has been an NCI-designated Cancer Center to pursue basic...

Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) is the largest of the seven schools in the Maine Community College System, with over 7,000 full- and part-time students. Students who participate in the two-year Biotechnology degree program acquire laboratory skills and theoretical background for either employment or transfer to other four-year colleges or universities. Maine has targeted biotechnology as a key future growth sector, and SMCC’s biotechnology program is designed to support this growth. Through the INBRE program SMCC is renovating its Microbiology Lab to meet the needs of current molecular techniques and increased course offerings to provide a more thorough training for students in molecular biology and exposure to biomedical research in genomics, advanced techniques in genetics and other areas of biotechnology. INBRE is also upgrading laboratory equipment and supplies for Biotechnology classes on campus. Better preparation in biomedical research techniques will benefit the students, t...

The University of Maine (UMaine) , the only Carnegie-ranked research university in Maine, is an INBRE research institution partner and a source of graduate students for the future of biomedical research in Maine. Located in Orono, UMaine is the state’s land grant university and sea grant college. Its mission is to be the state’s center of learning, discovery and service to the public. UMaine is comprised of 158 buildings on 660 acres overlooking the Stillwater River. Since 1968 it has served as the flagship university within the University of Maine System, conferring the PhD degree in 30 academic programs. UMaine has the responsibility for providing high quality undergraduate and graduate education programs, public service outreach, and basic and applied research. As the largest academic institution in Maine, it has BS, BA, MS and PhD programs in biological, physical and computational sciences and engineering. UMaine’s research strength in the biological sciences and engineering was h...

The Honors College (HC) , established in 2002, is one of six colleges that compose the University of Maine (UMaine), and the only one focused entirely on undergraduates. As an undergraduate institution that is a component of a university that includes a graduate school that confers doctoral degrees in one or more sciences, the HC is part of the INBRE undergraduate network. The HC’s mission is to provide an enriching environment for undergraduate students who are among the most academically motivated and talented, to enhance their college experiences through a curriculum that is intellectually challenging and engaging. The HC seeks to involve students, faculty members, and staff members from across UMaine in a community of scholars who together explore questions within and beyond their various disciplines. The approximately eight hundred students in the HC have “dual citizenship,” majoring in one of the degree-granting colleges of UMaine while completing their Honors curriculum. These...

The University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) offers 2,000 students (over 50% first generation college students) 34 baccalaureate programs in the arts, sciences, education, and human services. UMF's approach to education is based on the belief that students must have opportunities to form meaningful relationships with inspiring teachers (student to faculty ratio is 16:1). UMF's goal is to produce liberally educated citizens who are creative problem solvers and have learned how to learn and how to work on complex challenges with people from diverse backgrounds and fields. UMF values innovation and research as they contribute to excellence in teaching and learning; UMF supports faculty, staff, and students in their scholarly and creative endeavors, and takes pride in being an intellectual and cultural center for western Maine. INBRE funding at UMF is improving laboratory instrumentation and curriculum, and providing critical network resources and connections. Faculty are in the process...

The University of Maine at Fort Kent (UMFK) is a small liberal-arts-based university, with an enrollment of 1,300, offering baccalaureate and associate degrees. Located in the crown of Maine on the Canadian border, UMFK’s curriculum emphasizes the special challenges of rural communities, and fosters an appreciation for all ethnic and racial heritages. Founded as the Madawaska Training School in 1878, today UMFK strives to be Maine's premier rural public university, focused on the needs of rural communities, educating students to become responsible citizens committed to environmental stewardship through experiential learning. UMFK offers degrees in Biology, Nursing, Zoology, and Environmental Sciences. Through a combination of course work, laboratory experiences, research, and fieldwork, students develop an understanding of the methods used to observe, develop insights, and create theories. INBRE is providing enhanced laboratory training opportunities to UMFK students, as well as e...

The University of Maine at Machias (UMM) fills a unique niche in higher education in Maine. As a public Environmental Liberal Arts institution, UMM's mission is closely linked to its location on the rugged Maine coast. Students engage in scholarly pursuits and service learning projects that are integrated into the natural and social environments of the surrounding rural communities. UMM's applied research and public services contribute to the improvement of the quality of life and economic development in Downeast Maine. UMM is one of the five smallest public four-year institutions in the nation, serving approximately 1,100 full- and part-time students. The small average class size of 16 encourages students to be involved in the scholarly activities of their instructors. Science graduates successfully find careers in natural resource divisions of state and federal governments, with conservation organizations, and in biotech and education. One-third of science alumni pursue graduate or...

The The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) is a century-old public university located in a city of 10,000. Presque Isle is the hub of the largest county east of the Mississippi River—Aroostook County, or simply "The County." UMPI provides its 1,400 traditional and non-traditional students with liberal arts and selected professional programs. UMPI seeks to facilitate continuing discovery through a challenging curriculum and adventurous learning opportunities. The Biology curriculum allows students to pursue various degrees in the life sciences, including a B.A. with a Pre-medical; Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity; or Self-Designed Concentration, a B.S. in Secondary Education with a concentration in Biology; as well as an Associate Degree in Medical Laboratory Technology. For students interested in professional biology, the curriculum stresses hands-on experiences providing essential skills that are an integral part of modern biology. Low student-to-faculty ratios ensure on...