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\u2019s stakeholder-engaged, solutions-focused, interdisciplinary projects and partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding contribution of a student to sustainability research<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding contribution of a student to sustainability research<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team<\/em><\/strong> Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research<\/em><\/strong> Awarded to Caroline Noblet, Associate Professor, School of Economics, University of Maine<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awarded to Jasmine Lamb, Ph.D. Student, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Maine<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awarded to the Ash Protection Collaboration Across Wabanakik Team Awarded to Gary Fearon, Director of Housing, Penobscot Nation<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read Gary\u2019s acceptance of his award<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Awared to Bea Van Dam, Doctoral Student, School of Earth and Climate Sciences, UMaine<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awarded to Cade King, Undergraduate Student, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, UMaine<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awarded to Gabby Hillyer, Doctoral Student, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, UMaine<\/p>\n\n\n\n Awarded to the PFAS Research Initiative, UMaine Awarded to Nathan Robbins, Climate Change Specialist, Maine Department of Environmental Protection<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read Nathan\u2019s acceptance of his award<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sharon Klein, Associate Professor, UMaine School of Economics<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDr. 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.\u201d<\/em> Dominique DiSpirito, UMaine Honors student and political science major Maine Food Waste Fall 2021 Student Intern Team \u201cThis student research team epitomizes the Mitchell Center\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark King, Composting & Organics Management, Maine Department of Environmental Protection<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMark 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\u2019 individual efforts. Mark has shown never-ending patience in \u201ctraining\u201d 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Carly Sponarski, Assistant Professor, UMaine Department of Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In her work, Carly Sponarski brings together the social and ecological aspects of natural resource management\u2014not just how ecosystems and species function and interact, but also how people are directly and indirectly involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sara Kelemen, UMaine master\u2019s student, School of Food and Agriculture<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sara is a first-year master\u2019s student in sustainable agriculture who worked with the Mitchell Center in 2020 to advise the Maine Governor\u2019s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future on equity outcomes of the state\u2019s Climate Action Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Esperanza Stancioff, Extension Professor, UMaine Cooperative Extension and Maine Sea Grant<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEsperanza has worked tirelessly to implement solutions for climate resilience in Maine\u2019s coastal communities for decades,\u201d her nominator says. \u201cHer 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Center for EcoTechnology<\/em> \u201cCory Mansell has so generously shared contacts, insights, and time to help the Mitchell Center in its efforts to end food waste in Maine,\u201d the Center\u2019s nominator notes. \u201cTheir 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\u2013all of which have allowed our final food waste solutions and pilots to be \u2018best-in-class.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2019 Sustainability Awards<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2018 Sustainability Awards<\/a>
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<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s environment<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Awarded to the Wild Blueberry Research Team
Read more about the team\u2019s efforts to address the many challenges facing Maine\u2019s wild blueberry growers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Awarded to Sam Roy, Maine Geological Survey
Read more about Sam\u2019s work to update the maps of Maine\u2019s coastal bluffs and his collaborative research with UMaine researchers and students<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n2024 Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 Main<\/u>e community-led E<\/u>nergy and C<\/u>limate A<\/u>ction N<\/u>etwork, a statewide partnership of almost 100 collaborators<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 \u2018wicked\u2019 questions concerning PFAS in Maine\u2019s wildlife<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n2023 Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Outstanding contribution of a student to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
APCAW Team: Pari Rahimzadeh-Bajgiran, Suzanne Greenlaw, Emily Francis, Tyler Everett, John Daigle, Ella McDonald<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2022 Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding mentorship of students in sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Outstanding contribution of an undergraduate student to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Outstanding contribution of a graduate student to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
PFAS Team: Onur Apul, Dianne Kopec, Jean MacRae, Caroline Noblet, John Peckenham, Sam Roy, Sonia Moavenzadeh, Molly Shea, Charity Zimmerman<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2021 Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding mentorship of a student in sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nOutstanding student contribution to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nOutstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a research team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/em>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<\/p>\n\n\n\nOutstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2020 Awards<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding mentorship of a student or other team member in sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding student contribution to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding contributions toward the development of a solution by a researcher or research team<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Outstanding contribution by an external partner to sustainability research<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cory Mansell, Strategic Services Representative<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAwards from earlier years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2017 Sustainability Awards<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n