Education News: Local winners among UMaine research showcase; Maine Maritime Academy recognizes civic engagement
Union, Montville natives among winners of UMaine’s 2015 Undergraduate Research and Academic Showcase
ORONO — Student research was displayed during the sixth annual Undergraduate Research and Academic Showcase on April 14, including a winning exhibit by Meghan Hurlburt of Union, and a winning poster by Ailish Foley of Montville.
The event, sponsored by UMaine's Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR), was open to any undergraduate at the university and featured 121 presentations from 229 students in the form of 92 posters, 16 oral presentations or performances, and 13 exhibits. Several presentations included multiple students.
Following are the winning presentations:
Exhibits
Meghan Hurlburt of Union, Maine; and Samuel Gates of Old Town, Maine; "Multi-Tag Radio Frequency Indication for Use in Indoor Positional Tracking Systems;" adviser: Nicholas Giudice, School of Computing and Information Science
Oral Presentations
Danielle Walczak of Lee, New Hampshire, "Forward, Not Back: Young People's Search for Farming and Community in Maine;" adviser: Melissa Ladenheim, Honors College (first place)Vincent Digiovanni of Belmont, Massachusetts, "Chemical Degradation and Functionalization of Acarbose for the Creation and Study of Novel Alpha Amylase Inhibitors Related to the Acarviostatin Family of Natural Products;" Adviser: Matthew Brichacek, Department of Chemistry (second place)
Posters
Ailish Foley of Montville, Maine, "The Effects of Collection Time, Auxin Concentration, and Wounding on Root Formation of Softwood and Semi-Hardwood Cuttings of Rhododendron Canadense;" adviser: Bryan Peterson, School of Food and Agriculture
Eliza Kane of Deer Isle, Maine, "The Geochemistry and Historical Ecology of a Burnt Mississippian House at the Lawrenz Gun Club Site in the Central Illinois River Valley;" adviser: Alice Kelley, School of Earth and Climate Sciences (first place)Kai Hermansen of Old Town, Maine;
Abbie Gray of Poland, Maine; Evan Nadeau of Brewer, Maine; Viktoria Staples of Brooklin, Maine; and Roger Brasslett of Brewer, Maine, "Exercise Education at Brewer High School Health Class;" adviser: Elizabeth Bicknell, School of Nursing (second place) Jacob Posik of Turner, Maine;
Cameron Marcotte of Lewiston, Maine; Jacob Hatch of Portland, Maine; Harold Trey Stewart III of Presque Isle, Maine; and Adam Thibodeau of Bangor, Maine, "Confronting The Challenges of Studentification in Residential Orono Neighborhoods;" adviser: Robert Glover, Department of Political Science (third place)
Also announced at the showcase were the five winners of a $3,000 Summer Research and Creative Academic Achievements Fellowship:
Spencer Desrochers of Biddeford, Maine, "Optimizing Power Usage of Modern Computing Systems;" adviser: Vincent Weaver, electrical and computer engineering
Zachary Mason of Wells, Maine, "Increasing Resolution of Tropical Last Glacial Maximum Record with Cosmogenic Surface Exposure-Dating;" Brenda Hall, Earth and Climate Sciences
Scott Mitchell of Haymarket, Virginia, "Use of FAME Profiling to Detect Differences in Microbial Activity in Compost from Horses Treated with and without Antibiotics;" adviser: Robert Causey, School of Food and Agriculture
Jessica Moore of Bangor, Maine, "Investigating a Link Between Inflammation and Invasive Candidiasis;" adviser: Robert Wheeler, molecular and biomedical sciences
Maine Maritime Academy community celebrates Student Civic Engagement at annual Student Life Awards Banquet
CASTINE — Students at Maine Maritime Academy are encouraged to complete community service hours as part of their education. The Academy's annual Student Life Awards Banquet, held on Wednesday, April 8, recognized students who have contributed time, knowledge and skills to help better the college and surrounding community.
The Student Life Participation and Leadership Awards Committee, made up of MMA staff and faculty, recognized community members with awards for student community service, and with the Sarah F. Hudson Unsung Mariner Award, the Mariner Pride Award, and the Phyllis Tenney Community Service and Leadership Award.
Level-one awards acknowledge positive community contribution. The recognized students in this category have made positive contributions to the MMA and/or Castine communities through personal involvement in extra-curricular activities, employment positions, volunteer programs, community service projects, or leadership positions, typically over one year or less.
The following students were recognized as level-one award recipients: Arik Akerberg, Sarah Anderson-McLean, Madeline Armstrong, Elizabeth Bailey, Michael Bataran, Anthony Boucher, Isaac Doiron, Erin Donlon, Ryan Donlon, Kate Doughty, Dylan Drinkwater, Robert Euiler,
Kyle Fallon, Caroline Foy, Taylor Grace, Cody Gray, Myron Hahn, Jared Hall, David Harrison, Katelyn Hart, Zachary Hartley, Cory Jernigan, Adam Kravetz, Cassandra Lopez, Jacques Lussier, Edison Ma, Cody MacCabe, Alexandria Martin, Caroline Martin, Micah McBrine, Cory McCoy, Andrew McGonagle, Sarah Meyer,
Tyler Nemsdale, Luke Olson, R. Dylan Pearce, Liam Pitchford, Hollister Poole, John Pooler, Andrew Rogers, Jake Sigouin, Mitch Stewart, Gabrielle Wells, Thomas White, and Caroline Yates.
Level-two awards represent outstanding community impact by Academy students. Those honored at this level are outstanding citizens who have made a broad or significant impact on the MMA and/or Castine communities through dedicated personal contributions in extra-curricular activities, employment positions, volunteer programs, community service projects, or leadership positions.
The following students were recognized as level-two award recipients: John Amendola, Catherine Bailey, Sam Berner, Kurt Borkman, Sam Brown, Richard Brzoska, Sarah Burgess, Glenn Burleigh, Rebeckah Campbell, Evan Carrier, Christopher Carter, Hannah Chisholm, Christopher Cloukey, Jordan Dehlinger, Brian Dockham, Nathan Dublin, Patrick Duffy-Miller,
Haley Eckert, Cameron Eisenhaur, Tyler Engelhardt, Matthew Fendl, Kyle Fredricks, David Gagne, Alexander Gagnon, Evan Gaskin, Lawrence Gay, Nicholas George, Christopher Gilman, Dania Gomez-Villa, James Colin Goodson, Joshua Hale, Andrew Harrison, Kelsie Hilton, Haley Hunt Griffin,
Rachel Jondle, Kristina Kelley, Rebecca Leathers, Wyatt LePage, Kregg MacPherson, Molly Marcotte, Kyle Marshall, Marissa McNally, Dylan Meklin, Jessica Menges, Daniel Mills, Alison Mitchell, Alexander Morrison, Sean O'Connor, Taylor O'Malley, Troy Osborne, Hannah Page, Jordan Peeples, Jillian Perron, Juergen Pilot, Elizabeth Pingree, Matt Plocinski,
Christopher Randazzo, Andrew Richardson, Derek Roberts, Nathan Rooney, Charles Salerno, Patrick Saunders, Allison Sawyer, Anthony Scenna, William Silver, Victor Skorapa, Tyler Smith, Jonathan Steirer, Ben Stevens, Ethan Stubbs, Andrew Tarte, Connor Thomas, Joseph Torchia, Cortney Treadwell, Elizabeth Trenckmann, Jacob Weymouth, Cristin Wright, and Nate Zmek.
The Mariner Pride Award is a community-wide nomination that honors an organization, event, or activity that enhances Mariner Pride by bringing people together and helping to strengthen the campus community.
This year's Mariner Pride Award was presented to Kurt Borkman, who accepted the award on behalf of the MMA Boxing Match team of organizers. This year's Boxing Match brought several hundred students together, and was one of the most talked-about and most desired student-driven events ever held. The efforts that went into the planning, preparation, and participation for the event were truly impressive, and the team executed a one-of-a-kind experience.
The Sarah F. Hudson Unsung Mariner is a student-nominated award that is given to a faculty or staff member for demonstrating outstanding community service and support of student life.
This year's Unsung Mariner award recipient was Public Services Librarian Lauren Blanchard.
Elizabeth True, vice president for enrollment management, presented the award and said in a news release: "Lauren has been an integral part of a strong team to make big changes possible in the Library. She is approachable, polite and always cheerful; she has a kind spirit, and is consistently dedicated to her job and to the MMA community.
“It is due to her strong work ethic and always going above and beyond her job duties for our students that she was selected as the 2015 Sarah Hudson Unsung Mariner."
The Phyllis Tenney Community Service and Leadership Award is presented to a student who has displayed outstanding dedication and loyalty to MMA, commitment and service to the Castine community, exemplary leadership skills, and has achieved great success academically and socially at MMA.
The 2015 Phyllis Tenney Community Service and Leadership Award recipient was Jillian Perron. Perron has worked diligently to serve Maine Maritime Academy, and its surrounding community since her arrival four years ago. She has done so through hard work, leadership, strong character, and humility.
Perron fills nearly every free moment of her day volunteering her time within the community, excelling academically, competing on the hard wood, and working on campus.
She carries an impressive 3.63 GPA in marine biology and has been a member of the women's basketball team for four years, where she has been selected as the team's captain twice. She is not only a leader among her peers, but also a successful student-athlete, having received North Atlantic Conference All-Academic Honors and Mariner Classic All-Tournament accolades.
She is a member of the Student Mariner Society, has mentored children at the local elementary school, serves as a physics and calculus tutor, gives basketball lessons to local elementary kids, and shadows at a nearby veterinarian hospital in Bucksport, all while maintaining a part- time job with athletics.
Jillian Perron, originally from Skowhegan, will graduate in May and plans to attend St. George's University in Grenada to pursue a doctorate in veterinary medicine.
The 2005 Phyllis Tenney Community Service and Leadership Award recipient, Donald McBride, a 2005 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, was the keynote speaker for the event. McBride is currently general manager of Marine Solutions North America, for Inchcape Shipping Services.
About Maine Maritime Academy
Maine Maritime Academy is a co-educational, public college on the coast of Maine offering 18 degree programs in engineering, management, science, and transportation. The college serves approximately 950 undergraduate and graduate students in career-oriented programs of study. For more information, visit mainemaritime.edu.
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