ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine will host a talk, “Hunting for Truth: PFAS Impacts in Maine’s Natural Food Sources” on Monday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m.
In this talk, UMaine faculty Caroline Noblet and Dianne Kopec will explore how people in rural Maine, who possess a long heritage of fishing and hunting, are navigating impacts from environmental contamination, particularly by a group of chemicals known as PFAS. Two surveys conducted in collaboration with Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, one with Maine fishing license holders and another with Maine hunting license holders, allowed the research team to conduct an in-depth exploration of how people who hunt and fish in Maine are processing information about consumption advisories, and potentially changing their behaviors.
Noblet is an associate professor in the UMaine School of Economics. Her current PFAS work focuses on how Maine residents perceive PFAS contamination — particularly in fish and game — and how messaging can influence environmental and consumption decisions. Kopec is a research fellow at the Mitchell Center. Her research examines how ecology and behavior influence an organism’s exposure to toxic contaminants in aquatic ecosystems.
All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talk series are free and are offered both remotely via Zoom and in person at 107 Norman Smith Hall.Registration is required to attend remotely; to register and receive connection information, see the event webpage.
To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Ruth Hallsworth at 207-581-3196 or [email protected].
