Who: Friends of Merrymeeting Bay
What: SLIME ME
Where: Register at: Zoom Invitation Link
When: March, 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Contact: Ed Friedman, 207-666-3372
Friends of Merrymeeting Bay’s (FOMB) sixth presentation of their 29thannual Winter Speaker Series: SLIME ME features Karen Coluzzi, Entomologist with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Winter Speaker Series presentations are held via Zoom and accessible via hyperlink at the top of the FOMB web page: www.fomb.org. This event takes place Wednesday, March 11th at 7 pm.
Exotic terrestrial snails and slugs are on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s watchlist. These are species that can cause serious threats to our nation’s plant resources, food supply, livestock and human health if they are introduced and become established. Conducting trapping and visual surveys for these species are time consuming, inefficient, and ineffective for a small staff, but with the public’s help, more ground can be covered. Promoting the use of iNaturalist, Karen Coluzzi and her colleagues have been able to monitor the iNaturalist project page, SLIME ME for any suspicious invasive snails and slugs. In addition, iNaturalist observations can be compared with the list compiled in Martin’s, Terrestrial Snails and Slugs (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Maine published in 2000 (Northeastern Naturalist 7(1): 33-88) to help determine if some species have gone extinct, have been misidentified, or are new to the state. In this program, Karen will present information on terrestrial snails and slugs known in Maine, exotic snails and slugs on the USDA’s watchlist, and how to observe, photograph, and upload finds to iNaturalist to help with the hunt.
Karen Coluzzi is an entomologist with the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry in the Plant Health Division. She is the State Survey Coordinator for exotic pests and administers the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program. The CAPS Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), provides a mechanism for early detection of foreign plant pests and diseases that could be harmful to our agricultural and natural resources. Karen coordinates exotic pest detection surveys throughout the state and works with industry and stakeholders to raise awareness of harmful exotic pests. She received her Master of Science degree in entomology from the University of Maine in 2005.
FOMB hosts their Winter Speaker Series October-May, on the second Wednesday of each month. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic and ability for participants to attend from out of the area, the series continues via Zoom. The FOMB April 8th 2026 presentation, Horses, Sugar & Slavery in the 18th Century features Charlotte Carrington-Farmer, Ph.D. professor of history at Roger Williams University.
Speaker Series presentations are free, open to the public. Visit www.fomb.org to see speaker biographies, full event schedules, video recordings of past presentations, become a member, and learn more about how you can help protect beautiful Merrymeeting Bay and the Gulf of Maine.
For more information contact FOMB at 207-666-3372 or edfomb@comcast.net.
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