Black Bear profiles

A portrait of Elizabeth Brennan

Elizabeth Brennan: Outstanding Graduating Student 

Elizabeth Brennan of West Chester, Pennsylvania, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. She is a wildlife ecology major and member of the Honors College, through which she wrote a thesis titled “Phenological changes in Arctic and Common Terns across Maine’s coastal islands.” While attending the University of […]

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A portrait of Daniela Chavez de Paz Solis

Daniela Chavez de Paz Solis: Outstanding Graduating International Student

Daniela Chavez de Paz Solis of Lima, Peru, is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the Honors College. She is majoring in biology with a concentration in pre-medical sciences. Chavez’s experiences have connected her passions for science and service, beginning with her efforts to establish a chapter of the Maine Red Cross on the University […]

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A portrait of Thomas Freel

Thomas Freel: Outstanding Graduating International Student

Thomas Freel from Aberdeen, Scotland, is the Outstanding Graduating International Student for the Maine Business School. He is majoring in business administration in finance and is a member of the Men’s Ice Hockey team. His experience connected him with a group of fellow student athletes who motivated him and helped him grow as a teammate […]

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Zachary Hopp: Outstanding Graduating Student

Zachary Hopp of Maple Grove, Minnesota, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Maine College of Engineering and Computing and the inaugural Chandrasekar Scholar. A mechanical engineering major with a minor in mathematics, Hopp is also a member of the Men’s Swimming and Diving team. He has gained valuable experience in materials science by completing […]

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A portrait of Amanda Karomba

Amanda Ahava Karomba: Outstanding Graduating Student

Amanda Ahava Karomba of Lewiston, Maine, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Division of Lifelong Learning. She is majoring in university studies with minors in interdisciplinary disability studies and leadership studies. Karomba pursued her degree online while raising two boys and working as CEO of Happy Haven, an agency that provides direct support to […]

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A portrait of Lara Kirkby

Lara Kirkby: Outstanding Graduating International Student

Lara Kirkby of Adelaide, South Australia, is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Earth, Life, and Health Sciences. A December 2024 graduate, Kirkby majored in biochemistry, researched in the Maginnis Lab and participated on the UMaine Women’s Soccer Team, through which she competed in and won two championships. After earning her bachelor’s […]

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A portrait of Zachary Wentworth

Zachary Wentworth: Outstanding Graduating Student

Zachary Wentworth of Calais, Maine, is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Education and Human Development (COEHD). He is a secondary education major with a concentration in social studies and a minor in history. A Maine Top Scholar, a Maine Seacoast Mission scholar and a Galen Cole Family Foundation scholar, Wentworth served as […]

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A portrait of Meg Caron

Meg Caron: UMaine 2025 Valedictorian 

Meg Caron of Bangor, Maine is the 2025 valedictorian. She is pursuing dual degrees in French and microbiology with a second science major in molecular and cellular biology. Alongside research, volunteer work, campus clubs and cooking competitions, she has been a member of the Field Hockey and Women’s Cross Country teams. Caron emphasizes the value […]

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A portrait of Alexandria Banou Morgan

Alexandria Banou Morgan: UMaine 2025 Co-Salutatorian 

Alexandria Banou Morgan of Perry, Maine is a 2025 co-salutatorian and the outstanding graduating student in the Honors College and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). She is majoring in psychology with minors in neuroscience and philosophy. Her journey at the University of Maine has been one of self discovery through scholarly pursuits […]

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A portrait of Dominic Needham

Dominic Needham: UMaine 2025 Co-Salutatorian 

Dominic Needham of Veazie, Maine is a 2025 co-salutatorian. A microbiology major and member of the Honors College, Needham transferred to the University of Maine his sophomore year. His enthusiasm — drawn from a fascination in how invisible-to-the-eye pathogens can shape society — has remained steady and engaged through his education.  Leading into his senior […]

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