Inside a crowded New Balance Field House filled with large research posters and hundreds of passersby, University of Maine senior Makai Moody-Broen and his group stood ready to pitch their project, the Black Bear Foodshare mobile app, to prospective users.
The team designed the app so event organizers can instantly notify student users when they have leftovers available by sharing posts with pictures, locations, event end times and potential allergens or dietary restrictions.
“We’re taking out two birds with one stone here, trying to reduce some food waste and trying to give students just a little something for a bit more reliable nutrition on campus that’s free and accessible,” said Moody-Broen, a computer science major and English minor, and his colleagues.
The project was one of more than 350 on display during the UMaine Student Symposium for Research and Creative Activity on April 17. From lobster shell styrofoam and a shark fossil study to an autonomous model race car and a community loom, the event demonstrated the hard work and ingenuity of undergraduate and graduate students from both UMaine and its regional campus, the University of Maine at Machias.
The symposium reflects UMaine’s commitment being a learner-centered R1 that offers hands-on, real-world research learning opportunities, where undergraduate students work directly with faculty and industry partners to tackle challenges facing Maine communities.
Participating in the symposium not only allows students to showcase their work, but also develop skills in poster design, presentation, communication and networking, all of which will serve them in future careers and advanced degree programs. For Moody-Broen, the event served as an opportunity to test how he presents his work and gain more exposure to his field.
“I think it’s great to be interacting with other researchers and other products and seeing what that looks like in an early professional, late graduate setting,” he said. “It’s good to be able to get your work out there for the first time.”
Over 200 judges from UMaine and the community perused the posters and interviewed the students about their work. Among them was David Barrett, lecturer in accounting for the Maine Business School, who returned for a second year to support the students and enjoy their “really neat research.”
“What I’m looking for is that the presenter knows what they’re talking about and can communicate it effectively,” he said during the event. “Getting students more practice and getting them more comfortable with talking about something with someone they’ve never met is a massively important skill for students to have as they go out of that comfort zone.”
Several rows down, Mya Griffith, a master’s student studying aquaculture and aquatic resources, presented her project to a judge, detailing her group’s ongoing investigation into the bioaccumulation of a group of toxic chemicals known as PFAS in seafood. Her team plans to integrate monitoring, predictive modeling and intervention for seafood food systems.
For Griffith, participating in the symposium helps her refine her communication skills and network, both of which will help her toward pursuing a Ph.D. and career in sustainable agriculture. She also cares that people hear more about the issues she researches.
“Even though I don’t have results, I want to bring awareness to it,” she said, “collaboration with the community is super important. And just raising awareness and making sure that people understand that these things are occurring in the environment and that they do affect us as humans, is super important.”
UMaine’s Center for Undergraduate Research has hosted a student symposium since 2008. At their first symposium, only 98 projects were presented. Now there are more than seven times that. The growth has been made possible by students, staff, faculty and community members investing their time and effort into the research experience. It is also aided by generosity of community sponsors who help cover the costs of the event itself.
“As you go around today, I encourage you to ask our students what is their ‘why?’ and what they love about research. Please support them through the journey that actually never stops,” said Giovanna Guidoboni, interim vice president for research and dean of the Maine College of Engineering and Computing, during her remarks at the symposium. “Today is an opportunity to engage, connect and learn, be curious, ask questions and embrace the unexpected connections that emerge from conversations across the community.”
Jordan Potter, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, stood alongside his partners and their poster ready to answer questions about their project, “Smart Scrubs: Enhanced Scrubs for Medical Personnel.” The group was designing moisture-resistant scrubs to protect healthcare workers from contaminants and prevent microbe colonization microbes through the application of water-resistant and microbiostatic coatings.
“What I want to do directly after I graduate is go to graduate school,” Potter said, adding that participating in the symposium helps me prepare for grad school because of the aspect of getting to present to people.I get to meet new people and tell them what we’ve been working on.”
Contact: Marcus Wolf, 207.581.3721; marcus.wolf@maine.edu
