Black Bear profiles

Colin Bosma

Colin Bosma: Psychology student mindful of emotion regulation strategies

Colin Bosma gained perspective growing up at an elevation of 8,230 feet in the Rockies in Nederland, Colorado. Its motto: Life is better up here. And he has developed mindfulness — a judgment-free, moment-to-moment awareness of his present thoughts, sensations and environment — through his study of psychology. Mindfulness is central to research Bosma is […]

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Olivia Conrad

Olivia Conrad: An internship scoop at Gelato Fiasco

This summer, Olivia Conrad, a fourth-year student from Yarmouth, Maine, majoring in food science and human nutrition, landed a sweet internship at one of Maine’s premier gelato companies. Conrad was the food safety intern at the Gelato Fiasco Flavor Foundry in Brunswick, Maine, where pints are produced, packed and shipped nationwide. She assisted the company […]

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Cary James

Cary James: UMaine alumnus and champion for students

University of Maine alumnus Cary James has been teaching chemistry at Bangor High School (BHS) for 17 years, and currently serves as the head of the school’s science and technology department. He has received numerous distinguished teaching awards, and his students have been recognized internationally for their academic achievements and innovations in the STEM fields. […]

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Lu Wang

Lu Wang: Seeing the forest for its nanocellulose

Maine is home to more than 17 million acres of forestland, making it the most heavily wooded state in the nation, and the forest products industry has long been an important part of the state’s economy. Lu Wang, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Maine School of Forest Resources housed at the Advanced Structures […]

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First-year students or trained phage hunters?

Read transcript There is a long list of learning objectives for the phage genomics course in which first-year undergraduates conduct hands-on research. Students learn how to purify and isolate novel bacteriophages — viruses that infect bacterial hosts — from soil samples. They learn how to characterize their individual phages, which can only be viewed using […]

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Savanah Haines

Savannah Haines: Passion for the forest and its health

Savannah Haines, a junior from Westport, Massachusetts, majoring in forestry with a minor in environmental horticulture, was one of three students nationwide to be awarded a Robert Felix Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, which supports undergraduates studying arboriculture and urban forestry, is offered through the TREE Fund, a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the science of […]

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Alexandra Barzin

Alexandra Barzin: Kinesiology grad to teach English in Thailand

After graduating from the University of Maine this summer with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and exercise science, Alexandra Barzin is already off to her next adventure. The Jamestown, Rhode Island native has accepted a teaching position in Thailand. Barzin, who will teach English, says she’s a little nervous, but mostly excited. “I have always […]

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Jill Pelto

Grad student’s art featured on cover of annual climate report compiled by NOAA

Art created by University of Maine graduate student Jill Pelto is featured on the cover of an international climate report compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Pelto’s environmental artwork appears on the front and back of the State of the Climate in 2015, an international, peer-reviewed publication released each summer as a supplement […]

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Charlotte Quigley: Researching how water temperatures affect kelp growth

Read transcript Charlotte Quigley is a Ph.D. student at the University of Maine studying marine biology. Her research focuses on alaria (a type of sea vegetable) and how changing water temperatures affect its growth. By studying and testing its genetic structure, Quigley hopes to supply a sustainable, temperature tolerant crop for Maine’s aquaculture future.

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