Christine Conte, M.S.

Christine Conte grew up interested in species conservation and working with wild animals, so it was only natural for her to enter the field of environmental studies. This fall, she’s teaching Environmental Problem Solving and coordinating the McDaniel Environmental Center (MEC). “I learn as much from my students as they do from me,” she says. “I love seeing students gain confidence through a semester!” She earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from University of Connecticut and her M.S. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from University of Maine.

I am so excited to be able to help the MEC grow! I am looking forward to connecting with people across the college to help everyone connect with nature. We have a gorgeous property for students and faculty to learn from and enjoy. I truly believe that every person deserves access to natural environments, and this is a great option.

I specialize in vector-borne diseases like Lyme disease, eastern equine encephalitis, West Nile virus, and plague. I am particularly interested in the ways diseases impact conservation and the ways conservation efforts affect diseases. It is a relatively new field often referred to as One Health. Studying plague in South Dakota sparked my interest in disease ecology research and that led me to study the effects of timber harvesting on ticks and their associated diseases in Maine.

I hope students leave my class with the ability to see the world around them as a place with problems that they can solve. The scientific process is useful no matter what field you end up in, and we all can use the creative approaches we learn through Environmental Studies in our lives. Additionally, I want everyone to feel empowered to engage with nature in ways that help them retreat from the chaos of the world and feel connected to something bigger than themselves.