SLIME ME

Karen Coluzzi, Entomologist & State Survey Coordinator,
Maine Dept. of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry

Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm
Register for Zoom Presentation

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Karen Coluzzi

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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.

With a federal grant in 2024, the CAPS program enacted a citizen science project to help detect exotic terrestrial snails and slugs that 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 and her colleagues have been able to monitor the iNaturalist project page, SLIME ME for any suspicious invasive snails and slugs. In addition, the 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.

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.