UMaine Graduate Students Win Awards at Soil Science Meetings

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

December 20, 2011 Research

Two papers written by University of Maine graduate students received first-place awards at the recent International Annual Meetings of the Soil Science Society of America in San Antonio, Texas.

Jay Raymond, who is working on a master’s degree, was awarded first place for his session in the graduate student competition for his paper, “Soil Drainage and Forest Type Influences on Soil Organic Carbon Fractions in a New England Forested Watershed.” His co-authors were UMaine faculty researchers Ivan Fernandez, Tsutomu Ohno and Kevin Simon.

Farrah Fatemi, who recently earned a Ph.D. under Fernandez, authored a paper that was named first place at the 2010 conference. Her paper was titled, “The Effects of Long-Term Forest N Enrichment and Acidification on Soil CNP Dynamics.” The co-authors were Fernandez, Simon, David Dail, Lindsey Rustad and Stephen Norton, all of UMaine.

Fernandez organized and moderated at the conference the “Symposium on Bioenergy and Soil Sustainability: Forest, Range and Wildlands” with Thomas Fox, a UMaine alumnus who is now a faculty member at Virginia Tech. The intent of the symposium was to elicit perspectives from researchers in various geographic regions on the question of soil sustainability with increased utilization of forest resources for bioenergy interests. The talks included both research results, regional perspectives on priorities, and thoughts about the future of this topic.

Presentations from the symposium are posted online.

Contact: Ivan Fernandez, (207) 581-2932 or ivanjf@maine.edu; Jessica Bloch, (207) 581-3777 or jessica.bloch@umit.maine.edu