FARMINGTON — Sarah Haggerty, a conservation biologist/GIS manager for Maine Audubon in Falmouth, will present a talk at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Thomas Auditorium in Preble Hall on High Street at the University of Maine-Farmington.

Haggerty will share her insights into her current research project studying Maine insect populations. The talk is open and free to the public, according to a news release from Western Maine Audubon.

Several studies in recent years have documented significant declines in insect populations in various parts of the world (Hallmann et al. 2017, Lister & Garcia 2018, and Sanchez-Bayo & Wyckhuys 2019). If this phenomenon is widespread it could have important cascading impacts on ecosystem function.

Maine Audubon, Maine Entomological Society and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are interested in potentially exploring this question by compiling and examining existing data on insect populations in Maine.

A logical first step is to review available insect data that might be valuable for evaluating long term population trends in Maine, so Sarah and her team reached out to more than 150 entomologists and ecologists across the state to gather data and partners for this endeavor.

Haggerty attended Bowdoin College for her undergraduate biology degree, and received her Master of Science degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Conservation from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Between her undergraduate degree at Bowdoin and her return to Maine, she worked with various government agencies and nonprofits in the realm of wildlife and fisheries conservation.

For more information, email Burt Knapp at [email protected].