Along the Mall citations: Fall 2017
Kelley Strout, an assistant professor of nursing, has joined Penobscot Community Health Care’s Board of Directors. Strout is involved in the health needs of the Greater Bangor community and coordinates all clinical placements for community and public health at UMaine’s School of Nursing.
Pankaj Agrrawal, an associate professor of finance, contributed a chapter to the recently published book, “The Most Important Concepts in Finance.” The book was edited by Dr. Benton E. Gup and represents a collection of contemporary and relevant topics in the field of finance, including Bitcoin, cybersecurity, corporate governance and international banking. Aggrawal’s chapter, titled “Multi-Asset Investing: Beyond the 60-40 ballpark,” discusses increasing stability and consistency in portfolio returns by extending traditional stock-bond asset allocation to a more diversified asset mix, which has lower correlations with equity markets. Other chapters were contributed by authors from multiple institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Duke University and the University of Florida. The book was published by Edward Elgar in the U.K. More information about the edited volume can be found online.
Jonathan Rubin, director of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and professor of economics, was appointed as a panel member to the NCHRP 25–56, “Methods for State DOTs to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Transportation Sector.” This research will identify specific efforts and strategies to reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are within state DOT control and provide methods for estimating and monitoring benefits and costs of these efforts. The National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) conducts research in problem areas that affect highway planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance in the United States. NCHRP is part of the Transportation Research Board which is part of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. More about the project is online.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension educator Kathy Savoie and community education assistant Kate McCarty were honored at the National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences 2017 annual session “Harvesting Opportunities in NEAFCS,” Oct. 16–19 in Omaha, Nebraska. Savoie and McCarty, based in the Cumberland County UMaine Extension office, both received the first-place regional and first-place national Master Family and Consumer Sciences Volunteer Award. Savoie and McCarty were recognized by NEAFCS and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for exceptional leadership in developing and implementing the UMaine Extension Master Food Preserver (MFP) Program. The MFP Program trains and retains volunteers who extend the reach of UMaine Extension to provide home food preservation education in Maine communities. More about the program is online.
Mary Cathcart, senior policy associate at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, was recognized Oct. 28 at the John F. Kennedy Recognition Dinner of the Penobscot County Democratic Committee for “exemplary leadership in continuing the legacy of John F. Kennedy’s principles and values.” On Oct. 19, 1963, President Kennedy delivered a speech at the University of Maine and received an honorary degree. He was assassinated 34 days later on Nov. 22.
Judith Rosenbaum, an assistant professor of communication and journalism, has written a book, which was published in November by Rowman & Littlefield. “Constructing Digital Cultures: Tweets, Trends, Race, and Gender” examines how people use Twitter to construct race and gender through a qualitative examination of select case studies focused on popular culture, politics and social movements, as well as brands and advertising. Today, Twitter has become a tool used by political leaders and others to express their ideas, debate issues, and formulate calls to action. Rosenbaum’s book explores how all these voices come together on a single platform, and provides insight into how Twitter functions as an extension of the contemporary public sphere.
Deborah Saber, an assistant professor in the UMaine School of Nursing, is the lead author of “An Interprofessional Approach to Continuing Education with Mass Casualty Simulation Planning and Execution,” which was published in the Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. The article focuses on a disaster simulation that was coordinated by the UMaine School of Nursing, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps (UVAC), Old Town Fire Rescue, University of Maine Police Department, and experienced nurses from local medical centers to train future health care professionals to respond to a disaster. Co-authors include UMaine School of Nursing faculty Kelley Strout, Lisa Swanson-Caruso and Charlene Ingwell-Spolan; and Aiden Koplovsky, UVAC student chief.
Kirk Maasch, a professor in the University of Maine School Earth and Climate Sciences and Climate Change Institute, gave an introduction and overview of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research’s (UCAR) importance in providing the community with research and educational tools in both atmospheric and Earth sciences at the Bryand Global Sciences Center on Sept. 13. Maasch is a UMaine representative for UCAR, a nonprofit consortium of more than 110 North American educational institutions and 53 international affiliates, which focus on solving the challenges related to research, technology and education in the field of geoscience. According to Maach, it is important for Earth and atmospheric science students and faculty to be aware of the opportunities UCAR provides, as it serves as a focal point for networking, collaboration, education, advocacy and planning.
Bloomsbury Press accepted Josh Roiland’s book proposal “The Rest is Silence: The Unexplored Nonfiction of David Foster Wallace.” His article “Hidden in Plain Style: The Anti-Bomb Politics of John Hersey’s ‘Hiroshima’” also was accepted for publication by the journal Journalism History. Roiland is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Journalism and a CLAS-Honors Preceptor of Journalism in the Honors College. The cultural historian of American news media earned a Ph.D. in American studies at St. Louis University.
Emily Nocito, a marine policy graduate student in the University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, presented her research at the fourth International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC4) in La Serena, Chile. The meeting, which takes place every four years, brings together world leaders to discuss policies for marine protected areas and to address climate change impacts on marine resources. Nocito’s research focuses on how governments define the concept of climate change resilience as they develop plans for large new marine protected areas. Her talk was titled “Resilience as co-benefit, resilience as definitional: The mission creep of marine protected area design.” Nocito also conducted research interviews with key stakeholders, negotiators and decision-makers at the meeting, which concluded Friday, Sept. 8. She is advised by Aaron Strong, an assistant professor in the School of Marine Sciences and the Climate Change Institute.
Douglas Gardner, professor of forest operations, bioproducts and bioenergy, received second place in recognition of excellence in technical writing in the Dr. Jackie Rehkopf Best Paper Awards, presented by the Society of Plastics Engineers, Automotive and Composites Divisions. The awards were presented at the SPE Automotive Composites Conference & Exhibition, Sept. 6–8.