Mitchell Center Sustainability Awards presented on January 31
On January 31, recipients of the Mitchell Center’s 2021 Sustainability Awards were celebrated at the first event in our spring 2022 Sustainability Talks series. As part of the ceremony, each of the four awardees gave a brief presentation reflecting on their work.
Mitchell Center awards are presented annually and are designed to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Mitchell Center members, researchers, students and external partners who have helped advance the values and principles at the heart of the Mitchell Center’s stakeholder-engaged, solutions-focused, interdisciplinary projects.
Below is a brief description of each award and the recipients. To view a recording of the event, visit our YouTube channel.
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team
Maine Food Waste Fall 2021 Student Intern Team
Hannah Crayton, Thomas College; William Dunham, UMaine; Ryan Fitzmaurice, UMaine; Ellie Hunt, UMaine; Kalina Kinyon, UMaine; Hannah Mathieu, UMaine; Melissa Veitch, UMF; Ariana Walker, UNE
William Dunham, Ryan Fitzmaurice, and Kalina Kinyon accepted the award in person on behalf of their team. They were joined via Zoom by Hannah Crayton, Ellie Hunt and Melissa Veitch to talk about their collaborative efforts to reduce food waste in Maine with Food Rescue MAINE, a project led by Mitchell Center Faculty Fellow Susanne Lee. Two students, Hannah Mathieu and Ariana Walker, were unable to attend. The interdisciplinary student team works on six solutions with a focus on “triple-bottom-line” benefits for people, the environment and business.
From the team’s nominator:
“This student research team epitomizes the Mitchell Center’s approach of using interdisciplinary teams to produce stakeholder-driven, best-practice-based sustainability solutions.”
Outstanding student contribution to sustainability research
Dominique DiSpirito, UMaine Honors student and political science major
UMaine senior Dominique DiSpirito discussed her work researching stakeholder preferences for freshwater resource management in Acadia National Park. She has been involved with the project since the survey design stage, and recently submitted a research paper for publication as first author. In her presentation, she outlined the project’s goals and accomplishments, describing her participation as “formative” in her academic and professional development.
From Dominique’s nominator:
“[Dominique] has taken the reins of this project … and excelled in gathering data from 500 stakeholders. Her analyses are providing managers with social science data that are critical to sustainably manage our shared natural resources as a socio-ecological system.”
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Mark King, Composting & Organics Management, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Mark King, a graduate of the University of Maine Fort Kent, has worked with Maine DEP for more than 28 years, many of those with a focus on improving how organic wastes are managed in Maine. He also works with the Food Rescue MAINE team on the role that composting and other forms of organics management can play in reducing food waste. King talked about his passion for this work, some of the barriers, opportunities and highlights, and plans for the future.
From Mark’s nominator:
“Mark has given generously of his time, expertise, contacts and in many other ways to advance our food waste work. … Without the support of Mark and the entire Maine DEP organization headed by Commissioner Loyzim, we simply could not do the sustainability work that we do.”
Outstanding mentorship of a student in sustainability research
Sharon Klein, Associate Professor, UMaine School of Economics
Sharon Klein was nominated by two separate students for this award, and took a different tack in her presentation, speaking “from the heart” about her work rather than using presentation slides. Klein has been described as an interdisciplinary energy researcher and talked about how important mentoring students is in her work. She said, “I’m really passionate about solving energy and climate problems, and about working with people to do that.”
From Sharon’s nominator:
“[Dr. Klein’s] mentorship and solution-oriented attitude inspired me to get more involved with energy issues and addressing the effects of climate change. Her passion for energy issues, ability to lead an interdisciplinary team, and commitment to the Penobscot Nation made her a great mentor.”