Doctor of Education
Niya Bond, Education
Advisor:
Leah Hakkola, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Higher Education
Dissertation:
Neglected Narratives: Listening To the Experiences of Online Adjunct Women Faculty
Orlina Plamenova Boteva, Education
Advisor:
Leah Hakkola, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Higher Education
Dissertation:
Exploring Discourses About International Students in U.S. Undergraduate Admissions
Janet Lynn Corcoran, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
“Adequately Prepared and Trained”: A Case Study of Educational Technician Training and Supervision Policy and Practice
Benjamin John Greenlaw, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
What Characterizes a Constructive Relationship Between a Superintendent and Principal?
Nicole Elliot Hatch, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
Navigating Rural Leadership: Emotional Intelligence as a Tool
Briana Angela Haynes-Morrill, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
A Case Study of Teacher Sensemaking Early in a Curriculum Change Process
Janet Elaine Hicks, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
“I Just Felt Like I Could Be Me”: A Participatory Study with Minoritized Students of Belonging and Homeplace in a Rural School
Anastasia Bernadette Lima, Education
Advisor:
Kathleen Gillon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Higher Education
Dissertation:
Women Title IX Professionals in Higher Education: Occupational Experience, Gendered Power, and Wellness Impacts of the Work and Role
Heather M. Mitchell, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
Parents’ Perceptions of Their Elementary Children’s Needs and the Available Alternative Learning Community
Eric Joseph Roach, Higher Education Leadership
Advisor:
Elizabeth Allan, Ph.D., Professor of Higher Education
Dissertation:
Student Retention and the Role of Organizational Learning
Amy Sullivan, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
Teacher Sensemaking and Decision Making in Sel Implementation: A Qualitative Case Study
Sue LeBlanc Sydnor, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
How Do Students Experience School Exclusion Practices? A Narrative Composite Inquiry
Abdur Rehman Tariq, Education
Advisor:
Timothy G. Reagan, Ph.D., Professor World Language Education
Dissertation:
Developing a TESOL Teacher Training Program for the Outer and External Circles: A Curriculum Design and Development Project
Steffany Lynn Tribou, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
Youth Aspiration Development Through Extended Learning Opportunities for Rural Maine High School Students
Allison May Woodard, Educational Leadership
Advisor:
Esther Enright, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Educational Leadership
Dissertation:
Teacher and Leadership Decision Making Regarding Reading Instruction a Case Study
Doctor of Philosophy
*
Most Outstanding Doctoral Student
Gladys Adu Asieduwaa, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Rachel E. Schattman, Ph.D. and Jason Lilley, M.S., Associate Professor of Sustainable Agriculture; Assistant Extension Professor, Maine Sustainable Agriculture and Maple Industry Educator
Dissertation:
Covering Ground: Assessing Effectiveness of Interseeded Cover Crops in Late Season Vegetables to Enhance Soil Health.
Arya Ajeev, Chemical Engineering*
Advisor:
Evan K Wujcik, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Dissertation:
Structure-Property relationship in doped polyelectrolyte complexes
Erik Kristian Anderson, Earth and Climate Sciences
Advisor:
Scott Johnson, Ph.D., Professor, School of Earth and Climate Sciences
Dissertation:
Signatures of Shear Heating Along Siesmogenic Faults and Underlying Shear Zones
Zachary Leigh Applebee, Biomedical Engineering
Advisor:
Caitlin Howell, Ph.D., Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Dissertation:
Liquid-Infused Silicone Surfaces for Biomedical Applications: Bacterial Antifouling, Physiological Performance, and Drug Delivery
Juan Marcelo Aviles Ordonez, Civil Engineering
Advisor:
Reed Miller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dissertation:
Data-Driven Approach for Understanding Traffic Operations and Causes of Non-Recurring Congestion
Kayla Louise Barton, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Advisor:
Benjamin King, Ph.D., Molecular & Biological Science
Dissertation:
How evolution can shape the annotation, expression, and variance of microRNAs
Charlotte Lea Marie Begouen Demeaux, Oceanography
Advisor:
Emmanuel Boss, Ph.D., Professor of Marine Sciences
Dissertation:
Improving NASA algorithms relevant to oceanic primary production by removing biases due to sampling and clouds
Christopher Charles Bock, Mechanical Engineering*
Advisor:
Masoud Rais-Rohani, Ph.D.; Brett Ellis, Ph.D., Richard C. Hill Professor & Chair of Mechanical Engineering; Professor & Coordinator, Mechanical Engineering Technology
Dissertation:
Multiscale Optimization Under Uncertainty for Large Area Additive Manufacturing
Susan E. Bouchard, Communication
Advisor:
Michael Socolow, Ph.D., Professor of Communication & Journalism
Dissertation:
The Applied Use of Imagery in a Philanthropic Campaign: A Case Study of the “Heart Gallery”
Chayton Keith Boucher, Chemistry
Advisor:
Brian Frederick, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry
Dissertation:
Characterization of Bronsted and Lewis Acid Sites on Monoclinic Tungsten Oxide Nanoparticles
Hanna Leigh Brooks, Earth and Climate Sciences*
Advisor:
Karl Kreutz, Ph.D., Professor and Director, School of Earth and Climate Sciences: Professor, Climate Change Institute
Dissertation:
Signals in Ice and Stone: Tracing Pollution, Volcanism, and Paleoclimate through Cryospheric and Lithospheric Geochemistry
Lily Fiona Brown, Psychology
Advisor:
Rebecca Schwartz-Mette, Ph.D, Supervisor of the Psychological Services Center
Dissertation:
A Multimethod Assessment of Conversational Self-Focus in Adolescent Friendships
John C. Butts, Biomedical Sciences
Advisor:
Ryan Tewhey, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Biomedical Science and Engineering
Dissertation:
Experimental and Computational Approaches to Understanding the Sequence Basis Of Cis-Regulatory Elements and Functional Human Variation
Savannah Ashley Clark, History*
Advisor:
Mary Freeman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of New England History
Dissertation:
Letters from Home: Northern New England Women and the American Civil War
Michael Clay, Communication
Advisor:
Bridie McGreavy, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Environmental Communication
Dissertation:
Rhythms of Soil, Water, & Farming: Using Rhetorical Field Methods for Collaboration in the Meduxnekeag Watershed
Carolina Cora Pedroso de Moraes, Biomedical Sciences
Advisor:
Robert Koza, Ph.D., Faculty Scientist II
Dissertation:
Brown Adipose Tissue Activity During Targeted Temperature Management After Cardiac Arrest Resuscitation
Ethan Robert Cronk, Physics
Advisor:
Nicholas S. Bingham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Phyics
Dissertation:
Environmental Stability of Perovskite Halide Materials
Sara Delaney Studer, Ecology and Environmental Sciences*
Advisor:
Rachel Schattman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sustainable Agriculture
Dissertation:
Climate adaptation in farmer and advisor social networks
Griffin M. Dill, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Allison Gardner, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Arthropod Vector Biology
Dissertation:
An Integrated, Multi-Scale Examination of Tick-Borne Disease Risk in Maine
Lingzi Ding, Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources
Advisor:
Ian Bricknell, Ph.D., Professor of Aquaculture Biology
Dissertation:
Yellowtail kingfish and lumpfish larval immune development
Ayan Dutta, Chemistry
Advisor:
William M. Gramlich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Dissertation:
Role of Precursor Formulation in Crosslinked Polyol Systems: From Cellulose-Based Thiol-ene Hydrogels to Polyol Resins for Rigid Polyurethane Foams
Jillian Fedarick, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Christina A. Murphy, Ph.D. and Sydne Record, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Assistant Unit LeaderFisheries; Professor of Landscape Conservation
Dissertation:
Conservation of the Yellow Lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa) through a historical, contemporary, and community-focused lens.
Joseph Duane Fenicle, Engineering Technology
Advisor:
Raymond Hintz, Ph.D., Professional Land Surveyor, Professor, Surveying Engineering Technology
Dissertation:
Samuel Stinson Gannett the State Line Boundary Retracement Specialist and The 1915 Survey of the Ohio – Michigan State Line
Guillermo Figueroa Muñoz, Wildlife Ecology
Advisor:
Christina A. Murphy, Ph.D. and Joseph Zydlewski, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Assistant Unit LeaderFisheries; Professor of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology
Dissertation:
Understanding the Variability of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Contamination in Fish
Thomas Martin Fittsood, Physics
Advisor:
Mackenzie Stetzer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physics
Dissertation:
Leveraging dual process theories of reasoning in supporting students in reasoning consistently on analogous tasks
Harrison Balopole Goldspiel, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Noah Charney, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Conservation Biology
Dissertation:
Conservation Capacity Building for Cryptic Ecological Communities: Expanding the Toolbox for Vernal Pools
Sydney M. Greenlee, Oceanography
Advisor:
Damian Brady, Ph.D.; Peter Countway, Ph.D, Agatha B. Darling Professor of Oceanography; Senior Reserch Scientist in Microbial Ecology
Dissertation:
Environmental DNA Approaches for Investigating Harmful Algal Blooms and Microbial Communities in the Gulf of Maine
Julia Minte Hiltonsmith, Anthropology and Environmental Policy
Advisor:
Darren Ranco, Ph.D.; Christine Beitl, Ph.D., Chair of Native American Programs; Associate Professor, Anthropology and Faculty Associate, Mitchell Center
Dissertation:
Instruments of Inertia: Modernity, Media, and the Politics of Energy Transitions in Coastal Maine
Johanna Marie Holman, Microbiology*
Advisor:
Sue Ishaq, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Animal and Veterinary Sciences
Dissertation:
The Metabolism and Community Contributions of a Gut-Derived, Glucoraphanin-Degrading Bacteria: A Multi-Omics Approach
Kimberly Christine Hunt, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Philip Silver, Ph.D., Professor Music, Piano and Musicology
Grayson Patrick Huston, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Michael Kinnison, Ph.D. & Jasmine Saros, Ph.D., Professor of Evolutionary Applications; Professor of Paleolimnology and Lake Ecology, School of Biology and Ecology and the Climate Change Institute
Dissertation:
The Development and Application of Fish Sedimentary DNA for Ecosystem Restoration
Vijayanta Jain, Computer Science
Advisor:
Sepideh Ghanavati, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Computer Science
Dissertation:
Identifying Privacy Behaviors in Android Source Code to Generate Privacy Captions Using Large Language Models
Robert Neil Jarrett II, Marine Biology
Advisor:
Damian Brady, Ph.D., Agatha B. Darling Professor of Oceanography
Dissertation:
Ecological dynamics of fisheries and climate: Demography, monitoring bias, and selection pressures of American lobster in the Gulf of Maine
Benjamin Crossman Johnson, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Philip Fanning, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Agricultural Entomology
Dissertation:
Integrating Novel Sustainable Approaches for the Control of the Invasive Spotted-Wing Drosophila, Drosophila Suzukii (Matsumura) In Maine Wild Blueberry
Jeremy Bijan Juybari, Electrical and Computer Engineering*
Advisor:
Yifeng Zhu, Ph.D.; and Andre Khalil, Ph.D., Norman Stetson Professor & Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Director of CompuMAINE
Dissertation:
Improving Accuracy in Image Segmentation and Efficiency in Multiscale Analysis
Ingalise G. Kindstedt, Earth and Climate Sciences
Advisor:
Karl Kreutz, Ph.D. and Dominic Winski, Ph.D., Professor and Director, School of Earth and Climate Sciences: Professor, Climate Change Institute; Research Assistant Professor of the Climate Change Institute
Dissertation:
Snow accumulation, surface melt, and temperate firn development in the St. Elias Mountains
Maja Gamdrup Kruse, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Anne Knowles, Ph.D., McBride Professor and Graduate Coordinator of History
Dissertation:
Topography of Survival: Movement, Environment, and Counter-Landscapes in the Holocaust
Lindsey Grace Lagerstrom, Psychology
Advisor:
Fayeza Ahmed, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology
Dissertation:
Depression as Risk Factor for Alzheimer’s Disease
Anastasia Bernadette Lima, Education
Advisor:
Kathleen Gillon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Higher Education
Dissertation:
Women Title IX Professionals in Higher Education: Occupational Experience, Gendered Power, and Wellness Impacts of the Work and Role
Sean Michael Lopez, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Susan L Smith, Ph.D., Graduate Coordinator of Intermedia Programs, Associate Professor of Research
Dissertation:
Intermedial Thought for 21st Century New Media: Performance, Poetry, and Storytelling
Darryl William Lyon, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Paul Holman, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Political Science
Dissertation:
A US Arctic Strategy Blind Spot: The Atlantic High North
Sarah McElman, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor:
Amrit Verma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation:
Quantifying Metocean Extreme Parameters for Offshore Wind Design and Operation in the United States
Jennifer Dawn McNulty, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Christopher Nightingale, Ed.D.; and Alicia Lacy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Athletic Training and Physical Education;Associate Professor of Athletic Training
Dissertation:
Is Personal Fitness Related to Self-Efficacy Following a 15-Week University Course in Lifetime Fitness?
Kala Mallik Meesala, Aquaculture and Aquatic Resources
Advisor:
Michael Habte-Tsion, Ph.D., Assistant Extension Professor and Finfish Nutrition Specialist
Dissertation:
Evaluation of Alternative Feed Ingredients in the Diets of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)
Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Darren Ranco, Ph.D., Chair of Native American Programs
Dissertation:
Mental Health Care from Indigenous Philosophy
Sonia Moavenzadeh, Civil Engineering
Advisor:
Onur Apul, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dissertation:
Management Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances-Laden Biosolids: Implications on Natural and Engineered Environmental Systems
Matthew Theodore Mokanyk, Engineering Technology
Advisor:
Raymond Hintz, Ph.D., Professional Land Surveyor, Professor, Surveying Engineering Technology
Dissertation:
Manual of Instructions for the Survey of Wireless Sites in the United States
Ligia Santos Naveira, Earth and Climate Sciences
Advisor:
Paul Mayewski, Ph.D., Distinguished Maine Professor School of Earth and Climate Sciences and Director Climate Change Institute
Dissertation:
Geochemistry and Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) In Surface Water and Snow in Greenland
Ruixin Niu, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Susan L Smith, PhD.; Beth Wiemann, Ph.D., Graduate Coordinator of Intermedia Programs, Associate Professor of Research; Professor of Music
Dissertation:
Pentatonic Systems in Cross-Cultural Contexts Across the Silk Roads: An Interdisciplinary Study of Musical Transmission
Edwin Gichohi Njuguna, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Christina A. Murphy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Assistant Unit Leader-Fisheries
Dissertation:
Development and Evaluation of a Citizen Science Based Avian Biotic Index for Watershed ManagementCase Study of the Upper Tana Watershed, Kenya
Madeleine Eleanor Nowak, Biomedical Sciences *
Advisor:
Robert Koza, Ph.D., Faculty Scientist II
Dissertation:
Systemic and Epigenetic Regulation of White Adipose Tissue Mesoderm Specific Transcript
Liam Edison O’Brien, Interdisciplinary Studies*
Advisor:
Ling Li and Wilhelm Friess, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems; Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation:
Hygrothermal and Energetic Performance Assessment of Wood Fiber Insulation Wall and Roof Assemblies in North American Climates
Temidayo Oladayo Ogunjinmi, Chemical Engineering
Advisor:
Thomas Schwartz, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Associate Director of Forest Bioproducts Reseach Institute
Dissertation:
Solar Thermal Dehydrogenation of Propane to Propylene
Casey Olechnowicz, Forest Resources
Advisor:
Jessica Leahy, Ph.D., Professor of Human Dimensions of Natural Resources
Dissertation:
The Social Dimensions of Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases in Maine
Kyle Shehata Oliveira, Marine Biology
Advisor:
Damian Brady, Ph.D., Agatha B. Darling Professor of Oceanography
Dissertation:
Exploring a developing detection method and habitat suitability for the white shark, Carcharodon carcharias, in the Gulf of Maine
Jacob Aaron Petry, Engineering Technology
Advisor:
Raymond Hintz, Ph.D., Professional Land Surveyor, Professor, Surveying Engineering Technology
Dissertation:
A Surveyor’s Guide to Acquiescence and Related Equitable Doctrines: Practical Interpretations from West Virginia Court Decisions
Elias Pinilla, Civil Engineering
Advisor:
Lauren Ross, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Cooperating Faculty in SMS
Dissertation:
Exchange Flow in Patagonian Fjords
Joe Brogada Poblete, Food Science and Human Nutrition
Advisor:
Juan Romero, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Animal Nutrition
Dissertation:
Novel Strategies to Mitigate Hay Spoilage and Feed Contaminate in Dairy Systems
Vanessa Mahan Quintana, Marine Biology
Advisor:
Kimberly Huguenard, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dissertation:
Drivers of Sediment-Bound Contamination Risk for Anadromous Fish in Estuaries
Mamoona Raheem, Chemistry
Advisor:
Carl P. Tripp, Ph.D.; Mehdi Tajvidi, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Director Laboratory of Renewable Nanomaterials
Dissertation:
Novel food packaging applications using lignocellulosic materials
Astha Rai, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor:
Reinaldo Tonkoski, Ph.D., Research Professor of Engineering and Computing
Dissertation:
Data-Driven Modeling of Power System Frequency Dynamics, Fast Frequency Support and State of Health Monitoring
Sarah C. Risley, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Heather Leslie, Ph.D., Professor of Marine Sciences
Dissertation:
Integrating Community Knowledge and Scientific Evidence of Intertidal Oyster Populations in the Damariscotta River Estuary
Robert Devin Rowe, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Angela Mech, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Forest Entomology
Dissertation:
Browntail moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) public perceptions, monitoring, and management in Maine
Everett James Rzeszowski, Marine Biology
Advisor:
Damian Brady, Ph.D., Agatha B. Darling Professor of Oceanography
Dissertation:
Co-Producing Knowledge: Collaborative Pathways to Monitoring Change in the Offshore Gulf of Maine Lobster Fishery
Liz Saavedra Perez, Microbiology
Advisor:
Benjamin King, Ph.D., Molecular & Biological Science
Dissertation:
Role of Non-Coding RNAs in Innate Immune Responses Perturbed by Environmental Arsenic
Nikita Saini, Physics
Advisor:
David Batuski, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Physics and Astronomy
Dissertation:
Orbital Dynamics of Mixed Population Multiplanetary System
Viraji Hasani Senevirathne, Chemistry
Advisor:
Carl P. Tripp, Ph.D; and Mehdi Tajvidi, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Director Laboratory of Renewable Nanomaterials
Dissertation:
Modification of the hydroxyl groups on the exterior and interior of cellulose nanofibers to alter surface and bulk properties
Sudati Shrestha, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology*
Advisor:
Joshua B Kelley, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences
Dissertation:
Boi2-Bni1 Interplay Regulates Septin Localization during Yeast Mating
Emily H. Sowles, Physics
Advisor:
MacKenzie Stetzer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Phyics
Dissertation:
Investigating Student Reasoning Trajectories in Physics: Utilizing a Metacognitive Scaffolding Approach Informed by Dual-Process Theories of Reasoning to Document and Characterize the Dynamics of Student Thinking
Clinton Patrick Spaulding, Communication
Advisor:
Michael Socolow, Ph.D., Professor of Communication & Journalism
Dissertation:
Frequencies of Learning: A Q-Methodology Study of Learning Orientations in Amateur Radio Communities
Amelia Fay Sullivan, Food Science and Human Nutrition*
Advisor:
Jade McNamara, RDN, Associate Professor of Human Nutrition
Dissertation:
Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating a Theory-Driven Program to Improve Nutrition Security in Rural Adolescents
Samuel Hui Ming Tan, Marine Biology
Advisor:
Jeremy J. Rich, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marine Microbiology
Dissertation:
Environmental DNA tools for tracing and characterizing the microbial degradation of kelp biomass in marine sediments
Megan E. Tomasch, Biomedical Sciences
Advisor:
Mike Burman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology Project Leader, COBRE Academic Director, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dissertation:
The role of the central nucleus of the amygdala in the lasting effects of neonatal trauma
Holly C. White, Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Advisor:
Katharine Ruskin, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Coordinator in Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Dissertation:
Undergraduate Research and Field Experiences: Impacts on Identity, Belonging, and Self-Efficacy
Marina Louise Yacoe, Interdisciplinary Studies
Advisor:
Susan L Smith, Ph.D., Graduate Coordinator of Intermedia Programs, Associate Professor of Research
Dissertation:
Resilience in the Making: God, Grit, Dirt and the Presence of Awe and Art in Adversity
Akhter Zia, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor:
Bashir Khoda, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation:
Application of Copper-Based Metal Organic Framework For Water Remediation
