ORONO — The Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions at the University of Maine is set to host a talk, “The Menacing Moth of Maine:Understanding Browntail Moth and Their Outbreaks,” at 3 p.m. Monday, April 1.

All talks in the Mitchell Center’s Sustainability Talks series are free and offered both remotely via Zoom and in person at 107 Norman Smith Hall on the UMaine campus in Orono.

Since 2015, the browntail moth outbreak in Maine has left residents and visitors alike itching for a solution. Despite its presence in Maine for over a century, various changes, including shifts in climate, policies and management practices, have rendered this outbreak uniquely challenging, according to a news release from Ruth Hallworth with the center.

UMaine’s Angela Mech will discuss the history and ecology of this tree pest, and the research being conducted to help find a solution.

Mech is an assistant professor of forest entomology in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine. She has spent over a decade researching ways to keep Maine’s trees and forests healthy.

Registration is required to attend remotely; to register and receive connection information, see the event webpage at umaine.edu.

To request a reasonable accommodation, contact Hallsworth at 207-581-3196 or [email protected].

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