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UMF professor awarded Fulbright fellowship

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UMF Faculty Member Chris Brinegar Awarded Distinguished Fulbright Fellowship.
University of Maine at Farmington faculty member Chris Brinegar was awarded a one year Fulbright teaching and research fellowship in Ecuador.

FARMINGTON – University of Maine at Farmington professor Chris Brinegar has been awarded a Fulbright teaching and research fellowship in Ecuador.

Brinegar, an adjunct associate professor in UMF’s Natural Sciences department, will begin the one year fellowship in June at the natural sciences department at the Technical University of Loja, a small Catholic university in the Andes Mountains of southern Ecuador, where he will teach conservation genetics.

Brinegar’s research specialty is in plant phylogeography, which is the study of the geographic distribution of genetic lineages in plant populations. Phylogeographic data can shed light on plant species evolution and is also used to assess biodiversity and to identify populations in need of conservation.

While in Ecuador, he will conduct research on the population genetics of two threatened tree species: cinchona and nogal. The cinchona tree was harvested to near extinction in Ecuador for the quinine in its bark prior to the discovery of synthetic anti-malarial drugs. It currently exists in scattered remnant populations. Nogal (Andean walnut) is on the endangered species list due to overharvesting for its prized hardwood.

Brinegar has taught ecology, environmental science and biochemistry at UMF since 2006. This is his second Fulbright fellowship. In 2008, he spent a semester as a visiting professor at Kathmandu University in Nepal. In 2012, he was awarded a grant by the Save the Redwoods League to help expand scientific knowledge of the biology and ecology of coast redwood forests.

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1 Comment

  1. Congratulations to Dr. Brinegar. Wow, two Fulbrights in one life time! Congratulations to UMF, also. This kind of faculty is what makes UMF a “stand out” school.

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