Get a close-up look at the UMaine student experience in ‘Life of the Pines’ Season 2  

Discover campus and coastal life at the University of Maine through “Life in the Pines,” where real students share their experiences studying, exploring nature and embracing community on both the Orono and Machias campuses.

“Life in the Pines,” an unscripted video series sharing stories of students at the University of Maine and University of Maine at Machias, has launched its second season.

Each episode follows a student along their academic journey, whether it takes them to the coast, wild blueberry fields, medical research labs, K-12 classrooms, basketball courts or, literally, through the pines. Prioritizing authenticity, this series seeks to show what life is really like for students at both campuses. Visit umaine.edu/pines to watch the full series.

Students to be featured this season include: 

• Alan Chausse, a forestry major who also plays in a band and rock climbs.
• Quincy Clifford, a business management major who has studied abroad in Costa Rica and played basketball with other students from around the globe.
• Jasper Makowski, a microbiology major, undergraduate researcher in a medical research lab and Circle K New England district governor.
• McKenna Chappell, a parks, recreation and tourism major who spends mornings creating art and afternoons teaching children about Maine’s outdoors.
• Nico Durkee, a studio art major in the marching band who plays with molten metal in the sculpture studio. 
• Lauren Smack, a sociology major, singer and dancer who’s made Orono her new home. 
• Isabelle Puccio, a biomedical engineering major who conducts breast cancer research and searches for ways to combine music and science.
• Samantha Ney, an elementary education major who lives life on Marsh Island to the fullest, from walking the trails to cheering on the Black Bears. 
• Jeffrey Nowack, who never thought he would be a drum major until he recently discovered his passion — and possible career paths — for music education.
• Joey Ferguson, an integrative biology major who conducts wild blueberry research and responds to marine mammal strandings in Downeast Maine. 

Don’t miss this insider’s look at UMaine through the lens of a dynamic group of students living life in the pines.

Transcript:

I have friends that are going to school right now in Colorado and Nebraska and they’re beautiful, but Maine is forged by nature and forged by the people that are here. I feel like it’s a flex.