Student profiles

A photo of Xander LaComb

Xander LaComb: Binding books and tending to fish tanks

At the University of Maine Machias, Xander LaComb unlocked many hidden talents, from book arts to aquaponics. Between his major program and his summer internship developing science programs for Wabanaki youth, LaComb is a shining example of how UMaine students can explore interdisciplinary interests and discover new passions.  LaComb, now a rising junior, grew up […]

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A photo of Katarina Minas

Katarina Minas: Teaching with aquaponics

For Katarina Minas, aquaponics is more than an innovative system to produce food — it is a tool for teaching. Minas has spent her time at the University of Maine figuring out how to integrate her love of marine sciences and teaching through aquaponics, culminating in a project this summer to create a virtual tour […]

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A photo of Ivan Young

Ivan Young: Interning at the foundation that awarded him a scholarship

In 2020 when he was a student at Camden Hills Regional High School, Ivan Young of Camden, Maine received a scholarship from the Worthington Scholarship Foundation to help him pursue a college degree. Three years later, he is working for the organization that helped as a summer business analyst intern. For his full-time internship, Young, […]

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A portrait of Will Kolbenson

Will Kolbenson: From the greenhouse, to the lab, to the field

Will Kolbenson is spending his summer with spuds. Thanks to a statewide job creation program, the rising sophomore has taken his love for botany to a University of Maine lab to study potato pathogens, with work that takes him into the greenhouse and even into the field.  Prior to enrolling at UMaine, Kolbenson attended Academy […]

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A photo of Maggie Lincoln

Maggie Lincoln: Building on her associate’s degree at UMaine 

One of Maggie Lincoln’s cousins earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern Maine in three years, but she wants to obtain hers in two.  When she graduated from Brewer High School, Lincoln, an incoming first-year University of Maine student from Brewer, Maine, also earned an associate’s degree in career studies with a small […]

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A photo of Laura Curioli

Laura Curioli: Madison Fellow learning how to teach the Constitution 

As an aspiring high school teacher, Laura Curioli, a University of Maine master’s student in history, wants to educate future students about the Constitution so they can learn their rights and become effective voters and leaders.  “A lot of people underestimate high schoolers, in my opinion,” she says. “They also fail to remember that these […]

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A photo of Sophie Dean

Sophie Dean: Leading on campus and beyond

Sophie Dean may only be a rising junior studying communication sciences and disorders at the University of Maine, but she is already taking on national leadership roles in her field.  Last year, Dean served as Maine’s student state officer for the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), the only student organization for pre-professionals studying […]

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A photo of Mackenzie Gillis

Mackenzie Gillis: 2023 George J. Mitchell Peace Scholar

Mackenzie “Kenzie” Gillis, a University of Maine rising senior from Glenburn, has been awarded the 2023–24 George J. Mitchell Peace Scholarship to study abroad at University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland.  UMaine partnered with UCC to create the scholarship that honors the 1998 Northern Ireland peace accord brokered by then-Senator George Mitchell between Ireland and […]

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A photo of Erica Desjardins

Erica Desjardins: Fulbright recipient to study international affairs in France

Recent University of Maine graduate Erica Desjardins of Bangor, Maine received an award from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program to pursue a master’s degree in European and International Affairs at Cergy Paris University in France. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program, a signature program from the U.S. Department of State, funds opportunities for U.S students to […]

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MaggieBeth Turcotte Seavey news alert

MaggieBeth Turcotte Seavey: Research that’s out of this world

MaggieBeth Turcotte Seavey always had dreams that went beyond this planetary sphere — and the University of Maine has been helping her achieve them. This summer, she will complete her fifth internship at NASA, where she will continue an impressive body of work that includes exoplanets research, instrumentation analysis and advocating for diverse voices in […]

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