\u201cSenator Mitchell has been behind the scenes at some of the major turning points of my academic career, Davis says. \u201cAnd his namesake is at the Mitchell Center where so many great opportunities have come from my research.\u201d<\/p>\n And indeed, Davis was recognized for that research last fall when the Mitchell Center bestowed him with the Outstanding Contribution to Sustainability Research by an Undergraduate Student award.<\/p>\n Davis found his way to the Mitchell Center by way of the Honors College<\/a>, where he has been a student these past four years. Specifically, in the May term of his sophomore year Davis got involved in the Honors College\u2019s Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative<\/a> (SFSRC) project funded by the Mitchell Center. (See Story – New project seeks to make local food more sustainable<\/a>)<\/p>\n With an SFSRC partner he researched food hubs in conjunction with the Orono Economic Development Corporation<\/a>, which was interested in opening a hub\u2014an actual or virtual entity that helps connect food producers with institutional buyers and end consumers\u2014in the Bangor region.<\/p>\n \u201cThe benefit for me was that I found a real interest in the literature and the research by engaging with a community stakeholder on a project I thought was really meaningful, and that was related to sustainability,\u201d says Davis.<\/p>\n After the food hub project concluded, Davis found his way back to sustainable food research and the Mitchell Center through another center-funded project\u2014\u201cCheesemaking in Maine: Investigating Social, Economic, and Environmental Practices and Sustainability<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really think the Mitchell Center, in tandem with the Honors College approach to education, changed the trajectory of my undergraduate career and where I see myself going after graduation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n![\"Brady](\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/293\/2017\/06\/Davis__with_Honors_faculty-copy-300x159.jpeg\")
![\"Brady](\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/mitchellcenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/293\/2017\/06\/Davis-quote-156x300.jpg\")
Davis notes that the artisanal cheesemaking project, which is researching the sustainability of this growing sector of Maine\u2019s economy, cemented his desire to continue studying sustainability and perhaps work in a sustainability-related field after graduation. And that, he says, is due in large part to the transformative experiences he\u2019s had working on Mitchell Center projects.<\/p>\n