Sustainability Awards
Mitchell Center awards are presented annually and are designed to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Mitchell Center members, researchers, students and external stakeholders who have helped advance the values and principles at the heart of the Mitchell Center’s stakeholder-engaged, solutions-focused, interdisciplinary projects and partnerships.
2025 Awards
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research
Awarded to Cressica Brazier, Research Associate, MAINECAN
Read more about how Cressica has found her niche in community-based participatory research and her mentorship of students on the MAINECAN team
Outstanding contribution of a student to sustainability research
Awarded to Melissa Godin, Graduate Researcher, Resource & Economics
Read more about Mel and her research to examine how anglers and hunters are responding to PFAS contamination in Maine’s environment
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team
Awarded to the Wild Blueberry Research Team
Read more about the team’s efforts to address the many challenges facing Maine’s wild blueberry growers
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Awarded to Sam Roy, Maine Geological Survey
Read more about Sam’s work to update the maps of Maine’s coastal bluffs and his collaborative research with UMaine researchers and students
2024 Awards
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research
Awarded to Louise Chaplin, Research Assistant, MAINECAN team
Read an article about Louise and her work to develop strong relationships with students, professors, communities, and individuals
Outstanding contribution of a student to sustainability research
Awarded to Sonia Leone, Undergraduate Researcher, MAINECAN team
Read an article about Sonia and her work in building trusting relationships to create broader community resilience
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team
Awarded to the MAINECAN Team: Sharon Klein, Caroline Noblet, Cressica Brazier, Jasmine Lamb, Faizan Saif, Louise Chaplin, Sonia Leone, Janine Borges, Solomon Agbesi, Hamza Imran, Katherine Simmons, Edgelynn Venuti, Catherine Mardosa, Kelsey Flores
Read an article about the MAINECAN team and their work to launch the Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network, a statewide partnership of almost 100 collaborators
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Awarded to Tegwin Taylor, Wildlife Health Biologist, Maine Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife
Read an article about Tegwin and her collaborative work with UMaine researchers to tackle ‘wicked’ questions concerning PFAS in Maine’s wildlife
2023 Awards
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research
Awarded to Caroline Noblet, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Maine
Outstanding contribution of a student to sustainability research
Awarded to Jasmine Lamb, Ph.D. Student, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team
Awarded to the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik Team
APCAW Team: Pari Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, Suzanne Greenlaw, Emily Francis, Tyler Everett, John Daigle, Ella McDonald
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Awarded to Gary Fearon, Director of Housing, Penobscot Nation
Read Gary’s acceptance of his award
2022 Awards
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research
Awared to Bea Van Dam, Doctoral Student, School of Earth and Climate Sciences, UMaine
Outstanding contribution of an undergraduate student to sustainability research
Awarded to Cade King, Undergraduate Student, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, UMaine
Outstanding contribution of a graduate student to sustainability research
Awarded to Gabby Hillyer, Doctoral Student, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, UMaine
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team
Awarded to the PFAS Research Initiative, UMaine
PFAS Team: Onur Apul, Dianne Kopec, Jean MacRae, Caroline Noblet, John Peckenham, Sam Roy, Sonia Moavenzadeh, Molly Shea, Charity Zimmerman
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Awarded to Nathan Robbins, Climate Change Specialist, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Read Nathan’s acceptance of his award
2021 Awards
Outstanding mentorship of a student in sustainability research
Sharon Klein, Associate Professor, UMaine School of Economics
“Dr. Klein is an exceptional educator and clearly an individual that the state of Maine should value. She has been an inspiration to work with. She is such a thorough, hardworking and truly enjoyable person and I have developed so many skills in research and communication.”
“I am continually impressed with the way Dr. Klein conducts herself as an ally to Indigenous people and her commitment to addressing energy injustice. Her mentorship and solution-oriented attitude inspired me to get more involved with energy issues and addressing the effects of climate change. Her passion for energy issues, ability to lead an interdisciplinary team, and commitment to the Penobscot Nation made her a great mentor.”
Outstanding student contribution to sustainability research
Dominique DiSpirito, UMaine Honors student and political science major
“I recruited Dominique as a research technician because of her diligence, maturity, and grasp of the complexity and interdisciplinary nature of natural resource management. She has taken the reins of this project, to characterize stakeholder preferences for Acadia National Park’s freshwater resources, and excelled in gathering data from 500 stakeholders. Her analyses are providing managers with social science data that are critical to sustainably manage our shared natural resources as a socio-ecological system. She summarizes these results in a manuscript being submitted this month to Ecology and Society for which she is first author.”
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team
Maine Food Waste Fall 2021 Student Intern Team
Hannah Crayton, Thomas College; William Dunham, UMaine; Ryan Fitzmaurice, UMaine; Ellie Hunt, UMaine; Kalina Kinyon, UMaine; Hannah Mathieu, UMaine; Melissa Veitch, UMF; Ariana Walker, UNE
“This student research team epitomizes the Mitchell Center’s approach of using transdisciplinary teams to produce stakeholder-driven, best-practice-based sustainability solutions. This outstanding team of eight undergraduate students from diverse majors, classes, and even schools has committed to working together to develop and share a powerful network of Maine government, business and academic stakeholders to create and implement real-world, sustainable, triple-bottom-line solutions to reduce food waste in Maine.”
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Mark King, Composting & Organics Management, Maine Department of Environmental Protection
“Mark has given generously of his time, expertise, contacts and in many other ways to advance our Food Waste work. In addition, I have been impressed and grateful for his personal attention and support of our students’ individual efforts. Mark has shown never-ending patience in “training” each new group of Food Waste student interns. Indeed, the opportunity to work directly with the Maine DEP helps us recruit student interns. Without the support of Mark and the entire Maine DEP organization headed by Commissioner Loyzim, we simply could not do the sustainability work that we do.”
2020 Awards
Outstanding mentorship of a student or other team member in sustainability research
Carly Sponarski, Assistant Professor, UMaine Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology
In her work, Carly Sponarski brings together the social and ecological aspects of natural resource management—not just how ecosystems and species function and interact, but also how people are directly and indirectly involved.
Outstanding student contribution to sustainability research
Sara Kelemen, UMaine master’s student, School of Food and Agriculture
Sara is a first-year master’s student in sustainable agriculture who worked with the Mitchell Center in 2020 to advise the Maine Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future on equity outcomes of the state’s Climate Action Plan.
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a researcher or research team
Esperanza Stancioff, Extension Professor, UMaine Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant
“Esperanza has worked tirelessly to implement solutions for climate resilience in Maine’s coastal communities for decades,” her nominator says. “Her recently funded project through the Mitchell Center has enabled her to work with a team of faculty, researchers, and students from UMaine, UMaine Machias, Bowdoin College, and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to engage public officials to establish immediate and long-term needs for climate adaptation in their communities.”
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research
Center for EcoTechnology
Cory Mansell, Strategic Services Representative
“Cory Mansell has so generously shared contacts, insights, and time to help the Mitchell Center in its efforts to end food waste in Maine,” the Center’s nominator notes. “Their support has included helping to train each new food waste project intern, providing review and guidance on all our research and programs, and supplying strategic connections–all of which have allowed our final food waste solutions and pilots to be ‘best-in-class.’”
Awards from earlier years
2018 Sustainability Awards
2017 Sustainability Awards