Faculty
Chris Mares, Director
Chris has been involved in English Language Teaching since 1981. He has taught ESL/EFL students, trained teachers, written textbooks and other teaching materials, as well as presented at many professional conferences. He has worked and lived in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East.
As well as directing the Intensive English Institute, Chris is involved in the UM Honors Program and outreach work for ESL and bilingual practitioners in Maine.
When he is not working, Chris can be found enjoying the beautiful outdoors of Maine where he runs, cycles, hikes, sea-kayaks, skis, and camps. He also likes to read, play guitar, cook, and write short fiction.
Chris has an MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Reading and also holds a Cambridge Diploma in TEFLA from International House.
e-mail Chris at Chris.Mares@umit.maine.edu
Jean Leighton Mileham
ESL Lecturer
Jean has been involved in English Language Teaching since 1973. Her experience includes teaching students and training teachers in university and community-based ESL programs, supervising international and domestic graduate TAs, developing intensive program curricula and undergraduate ESL composition sequences, and designing placement-testing instruments for the University of Wisconsin System.
Jean has co-edited a collection of professional papers, presented at state, regional and national conferences, and served on the Executive Board of Wisconsin TESOL. She has lived in France, traveled in the UK, northern Europe and Russia, and studied in Slovakia.
Back in her native Maine since August 1999, Jean now calls Lincoln home. There she can watch the birds and wildlife, take in an ever-changing view of Mount Katahdin, play a little golf, and view the dark night sky through an 8-inch telescope.
Jean holds a BA in English from the University of Maine, an MA in Applied English Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin, and advanced degree coursework, also at UW, in English historical linguistics.
e-mail Jean at Jean.Mileham@umit.maine.edu
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Erin-Kate Sousa - ESL TEACHER
Erin-Kate joined the IEI faculty at the start of 2006. Her background is in Spanish and Latin American Studies. She is a graduate of the University of Maine and also attended the University of Guadalajara. She has taken courses for an ELL Endorsement as well as a TESOL Certificate.
She has traveled widely in Latin American as well as Europe and Asia. Here in Maine she enjoys hiking, making the most of the short gardening season, and of course working at the IEI.
e-mail Erin-Kate at Erin-Kate.Sousa@umit.maine.edu
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Megan Webster – ESL Teacher Meg received her TESOL certificate here at the IEI in 2009. She has been teaching part time at the IEI over the past year and will be joining University of Maine faculty full time this year. Meg has worked and lived in Nepal and France, backpacked through parts of Costa Rica, and has done much traveling within the borders of the United States as well. Her experience both abroad and at home has been diverse, greatly influencing her worldview and enabling her to bring sensitivity, creativity and some flavor to the international classroom setting.
Meg received her Bachelors in History with a minor in Biology and a Language concentration in French. She studied at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. In her spare time she enjoys gallivanting through Maine forests and mountains, reading, writing poetry, taking ballet classes, making silly films, and fiddling around with various instruments.
e-mail Meg at Megan.Webster@umit.maine.edu