GENEVA, Nov 25 2019 (IPS) - It has been more than two years since the Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force. The global treaty protects humans and the environment from the toxic metal, but countries are still stuck on how to measure the agreement’s effectiveness. As delegations discuss Minamata this week in Geneva, the decisions they make will be critical to the health of humans and the environment for generations to come.
During National Bat Week, we’ll learn about statewide efforts to monitor and foster the health of the bat population, and we’ll also talk with experts about what to do if bats are in your home—or if you are worried about exposure to rabies.
BRI researcher Kathryn Williams has co-authored a new report, “Impacts to Wildlife of Wind Energy Siting and Operation in the United States,” recently published in The Ecological Society of America's (ESA) Issues in Ecology. An increase in the generation of wind energy is a key component of the U.S. strategy to reduce carbon emissions from the [...]
Portland, ME— Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) announces the publication of the scientific paper Restoration of common loons following the North Cape Oil Spill, Rhode Island, USA in the journal Science of the Total Environment (now available online). This loon restoration study, conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over a 15-year [...]
BRI research on common loons was recently published in the journal, Science of the Total Environment. The article, Restoration of common loons following the North Cape Oil Spill, Rhode Island, USA, uses a resource equivalency analysis (REA) to calculate the total loss of common loons after the North Cape Oil Spill in 1996, and uses [...]
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recently announced that it has selected five multi-year projects totaling more than $2 million to further study important environmental and commercial fishing topics to support the responsible development of offshore wind, two of which will fund research at BRI. The primary project BRI was [...]
BRI research on mercury concentrations in fish was recently published in the journal, Science of the Total Environment. The article, A global-scale assessment of fish mercury concentrations and the identification of biological hotspots, presents data on a rapid assessment of fish total mercury (THg) concentrations from 40 different waterbodies in 26 countries, including data from [...]
BRI research on seabirds and offshore wind energy development was recently published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The article, Assessing the cumulative adverse effects of offshore wind energy development on seabird foraging guilds along the East Coast of the United States, calculates cumulative exposure of seabirds to areas suitable for offshore wind farms, and [...]
Library Exhibit Lets You Enter the Endangered Zone By Bob Keyes “Mountain Gorilla” by Michael Boardman Prepare to be stunned. A new art exhibition at the Portland Public Library features life-size and realistically rendered paintings in full color of two dozen of the world’s endangered animals, depicted by New England’s top wildlife artists. The [...]
BRI research on bird migration was recently published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography. The article, Large birds travel farther in homogeneous environments, compiled GPS tracking data from dozens of ornithologists around the globe to better understand how environmental factors (i.e., resource availability and arrangement) and other factors (i.e., taxonomy, body mass, diet, [...]
Our mission is to advance the understanding of biodiversity and their ecosystems by conducting independent science that informs decision-making and supports the conservation and health of the global environment.
Biodiversity Research Institute
276 Canco Road‚ Portland, ME 04103
Phone: 207-839-7600
Fax: 207-887-7164
Email: bri@briwildlife.org
BRI News
© 2026 Biodiversity Research Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit