Along the Mall citations: Fall 2014
Stefano Tijerina, Diversity Libra Professor of History, will present a lecture at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) on Nov. 27, at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Merrill “Pete” Elias, professor of psychology and cooperating professor of biomedical sciences and engineering, with UMaine alumnus Greg Dore, National Institute of Aging, presented a seminar, “From Darkness Into Light: Blood Pressure and Cognition — Brain to Kidney,” Nov. 10 at the University of Delaware College of Health Sciences.
Mary Ellen Camire, professor of food science and human nutrition, presented “Increasing Satiety to Help with Weight Control” at a meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) on Oct. 21 in Atlanta, Georgia. Camire, the 75th president of IFT, also met with students from Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, Auburn University, Tuskegee University and University of Georgia. Camire also was the closing plenary speaker Nov. 7 at the Advances in Food Processing: Challenges for the Future congress, organized by the Instituto de Tecnologia de Alimentos (ITAL) and Fraunhofer IVV, in Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her presentation was titled FutureFood2050; she also toured the ITAL laboratories. Camire made the same presentation Nov. 10 at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil and met with faculty members and students to discuss research collaborations and exchange opportunities between the University of Maine and UNICAMP.
Alice Kelley, assistant research professor with the Climate Change Institute, instructor in the School of Earth and Climate Sciences and cooperating assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology; and Dan Sandweiss, professor of anthropology and climate studies, organized the panel “The Archaeological Record as a Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Archive” on Oct. 19 at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition, Paul Pluta, a master’s degree candidate in quaternary and climate studies, presented the paper “Fluvial Deposition, El Niño and Landscape Construction at San José de Moro and Huaca del Sol, Peru,” that he coauthored with Kelley, Sandweiss and Jeffrey Quilter, director of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.
When an 18th-century ship was unearthed during a 1982 pre-construction dig at 175 Water St. in Lower Manhattan, nautical archaeologist Warren Riess was called in to find out how it got there. After a year of fieldwork that included co-excavating the remains of the Colonial merchant ship, as well as more than three decades of analysis, interpretation and writing, Riess has revealed what he discovered in “The Ship That Held Up Wall Street.” Texas A&M University Press is the publisher of the 112-page book written by the research associate professor in the departments of history, anthropology and marine sciences at the University of Maine. In the book, Riess offers details about the construction of the vessel that was likely built in South Carolina and dubbed Princess Carolina, as well as information about her history as a merchant ship and why and how she came to be buried in New York City. Riess is slated to attend a reception and deliver a lecture at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at The Explorers Club in New York City. For more information, reviews and to order a copy, visit tamupress.com/product/Ship-That-Held-Up-Wall-Street,7901.aspx.
Jeffrey Thaler, visiting professor of energy law and policy,“From Immersion with Farmers and Autoworkers to Refugees and Immigrants: 40 Years of Transformational Learning,” chapter in Putting the Local in Global Education: Transformative Learning Through Domestic Off-Campus Programs (in print, Stylus Press).
Carlos Villacorta, assistant professor of Spanish, presented his 2014 novel “Alicia, esto es el capitalismo” Sept. 12 at McNally Jackson Bookstore in Manhattan, New York. The book relates the story of a couple’s struggles to find employment and secure an education in Peru under Alberto Fujimori’s dictatorship.
Jim Bird, head of the Fogler Library Science and Engineering Center, received a 2014 Gerry Turner Excellence in Volunteerism Award from the American Folk Festival at a reception Oct. 21 at Sea Dog Brewing Company in Bangor.
Pankaj Agrrawal, associate professor in the Maine Business School (MBS), coauthored “An Inter-temporal Study of ETF Liquidity and Underlying Factor Transition (2009–2014)” that was published in the Journal of Trading in summer 2014. He also wrote “Using Index ETFs for Multi-Asset Class Investing: Shifting the Efficient Frontier Up” that ran in the Journal of Index Investing in fall 2013.
Ivan Manev, dean of the Maine Business School and professor of management, coauthored “Are pure or hybrid strategies right for new ventures in transition economies?” with Jason Harkins, associate professor of management at MBS, Tatiana Manolova, associate professor at Bentley University, and Bojidar Gyoshev, professor at the International Business School in Bulgaria. The article is slated to run in International Small Business Journal.
Janet Fairman and Sally Mackenzie co-presented “Supporting Teacher Learning and Leadership: Progress and Challenge” at the European Conference on Education Research held Sept. 3–5, in Porto, Portugal. Fairman is an associate research professor and Mackenzie is an associate professor, both in the College of Education and Human Development. They conduct research on educational leadership and school improvement.
Ellen Mallory, an associate Extension professor and associate professor in the School of Food and Agriculture, is coordinating a two-day conference on organic agriculture, “Innovations in Organic Food Systems for Sustainable Production & Enhanced Ecosystem Services,” Nov. 1-2 in Long Beach, California. Information about the event is online.
John Mahon, Maine Business School Murphy Chair and professor of management, is one of five finalists for the 2014 Faculty Pioneers Award of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program. Aspen Faculty Pioneer Awards honor faculty who have “developed innovative ways to teach business school graduate students how government and business can work together to solve problems and create opportunities.” Mahon was recognized for his leadership in co-teaching with Paul Mayewski and Mike Hastings an innovative course, Abrupt Climate Change, Business and Public Policy, for students from the Maine Business School, the School of Policy and International Affairs, and School of Earth and Climate Sciences. The three Faculty Pioneer winners and five finalists will be recognized in an award ceremony at the Ford Foundation, New York City, Oct. 16.
In September, Pecan Grove Press published a poetry collection titled “The Next Unknown” by Leonore Hildebrandt, a lecturer in English. Hildebrandt’s poems recall her early years in post-war Germany, reflect on living with the land and the sea in her new-world home in Maine and comment on art and culture, often opening windows into imaginary spaces. The cover painting by Susan Hammond beautifully catches the tone of bewilderment, play and mystery. The 67-page collection costs $15 and is available at flatbaycollective.org, on campus at the University Bookstore and at other area bookstores.
UMaine College of Engineering has joined the Engineering Ambassadors Network. Sheila Pendse from the College of Engineering led a group of seven engineering students to a three-day NSF-funded Engineering Ambassadors training workshop at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Sept. 4–7. Students were teamed with their peers to prepare engaging presentations and activities to share with schoolchildren. The seven UMaine students were Devin Weaver, Elizabeth Clark, Emily Doyon, Erin Eldridge, Kevin Bois, Ogechi Ogoke and Samantha Bullard. Sara Walton, lecturer from the Department of Chemical Engineering, also joined the group. UMaine Engineering Ambassadors are student representatives of the College of Engineering. Their goal is to share with a younger audience their experiences as engineering students, inspiring others to see the opportunities available and the important role engineers play in creating solutions.
David Megquier, director of Maine Educational Talent Search and Maine Educational Opportunity Center, was one of three recipients of the Walter O. Mason Award, the top honor of the Council for Opportunity in Education. The national awards were presented at the annual conference, Sept. 7–10 in Washington, D.C. The council works in conjunction with colleges universities, and agencies that host TRIO programs to help low-income students enter college and graduate.
The University of Maine was well represented at numerous conferences in Lima, Peru in August 2014. At the first Congreso Nacional de Arqueología Peruana (National Congress of Peruvian Archaeology), anthropology faculty associate Kurt Rademaker (UMaine Ph.D. 2012) gave a talk co-authored with Gregory Hodgins, Gordon R.M. Bromley (Climate Change Institute post-doctoral associate) and Daniel Sandweiss (professor of anthropology and climate studies): “Asentamiento Tardiglacial de los Andes peruanos” (Late Glacial Settlement of the Peruvian Andes); Ph.D. candidate Ana Cecilia Mauricio gave a talk: “El sitio Los Morteros y la zona arqueológica de Pamap de las Salinas. Nuevas interpretaciones sobre el Precerámico en el valle de Chao” (The site of Los Morteros and the Archaeological Zone of Salinas de Chao. New Interpretations on the Preceramic of the Chao Valley); and Sandweiss spoke about “Ocupación temprana de la costa central andina” (Early Occupation of the Central Andean Coast). Mauricio also spoke at the Simposio Internacional: Los Orígenes de la Civilización en el Perú (International Symposium: Origins of Civilization in Peru) on “Los Morteros, el Paleoambiente de Pampa de Las Salinas y el Desarrollo de la Complejidad Temprana en el valle de Chao, Costa Norte del Perú” (Los Morteros, the Paleoenvironment of the Pampa las Salinas, and the Development of Early Complexity in the Chao Valley, North Coast of Peru). Sandweiss was a discussant at the symposium and also gave a talk: “El Asentamiento Temprano de la Costa Occidental de Sud América” (The Early Settlement of the West Coast of South America) at the Biennial Congress of the International Association of Inter-American Studies. In addition, Sandweiss helped organize the Society for American Archaeology’s second Conferencia Intercontinental and participated in that event, as well as an SAA-led conference on Improving Standards and Practices in Cultural Heritage Compliance in Latin America with representatives of the World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank, the SAA, and various Latin American ministries of culture and practicing archaeologists (both events also in Lima).
Gregory Zaro, associate professor of anthropology and climate change and chair of anthropology, represented the university’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi at the 43rd Biennial Convention, Aug. 7–9 in St. Louis, Missouri. Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. It was founded at UMaine in 1897. The convention brought together more than 300 attendees including 175 chapter delegates. The two-day event featured a keynote address from West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee and a plenary address from generations expert and XYZ University founder Sarah Sladek. Other highlights included a panel of three provosts discussing issues impacting higher education, presentations by Phi Kappa Phi award winners, regional meetings, chapter development trainings, and elections for the 2014-2016 board of directors and regional vice presidents.
Mary Ellen Camire, professor of food science and human nutrition, has been named the 75th president of the Institute of Food Technologists, a nonprofit scientific society of industry, academia and government professionals focused on food science and technology, and related areas. A news release about her appointment is online.
Aug. 9 at the Biennial Convention of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, Dan Sandweiss, professor of anthropology and Quaternary and climate studies, was elected vice president for the Northeast region, and one of two regional VP members of the Phi Kappa Phi board of directors. This is the first time in recent history that a UMaine Phi Kappa Phi representative (from Chapter 001) has been elected to national leadership. From 2011–13, Sandweiss was president of the UMaine chapter, and is now past president. Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and largest collegiate honor society dedicated to the recognition and promotion of academic excellence in all disciplines, with more than 300 chapters and 1,000,000 members inducted. It was founded in 1897 at the University of Maine by students who included Marcus Urann, who went on to found Ocean Spray.
Jay Rasaiah, professor of chemistry, will receive the 2014 University of Pittsburgh Department of Chemistry Distinguished Alumni Award Sept. 19.