UMSS21 Interdisciplinary Research

UMSS21 Presentations by Category

UMSS21 Social Sciences and Humanities

UMSS21 Natural Sciences

UMSS21 Biomedical Sciences

UMSS21 Physical and Mathematical Sciences

UMSS21 Engineering and Information Sciences

UMSS21 Business, Education, and Art

UMSS21 Allied Health

 

Links provided will take viewers to UMaine’s Kaltura video gallery. Presentations available for viewing by UMaine users only are noted (*).


Undergraduate Presentation.
Author(s):
Mentor(s): 
Abstract:

0901. Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Food Insecurity: Millinocket Case Study
Graduate Presentaion.
Author(s): Sean Driscoll, Jared Entwistle, Anna Olsen, Carly Frank Mentor(s): Katherine Glover
Abstract: Food insecurity, defined as a lack of access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food required for an active and healthy life, is a pressing issue globally. Countless factors impact food insecurity, some of which include socio-economic, environmental, and climate factors. This research will take an interdisciplinary approach to assess the impacts of recent climate changes on food insecurity at a local level through the case study of Millinocket, Maine. This project will construct a model of the town’s historical state of food insecurity both from a social perspective and an economic perspective. Agricultural assessment will be done to analyze the shifts in productivity for the region’s food production based on the changing climate and its effect on crop species. A historical climate analysis will be performed, focusing on variables most relevant to agriculture. These assessments will then be integrated and contextualized within the broader socio-economic framework of Maine and the United States. The findings of this research will serve to inform public education efforts relating to food insecurity within rural communities.

0902. Government Deforestation Practices and Indigenous Rights
Graduate Presentation.
Author(s): Sarah Dennison, Beth Jackson, Casey Olechnowicz, Christophe Mbuye
Mentor(s): Katie Glover
Abstract: Globally, deforestation is a well understood process of industrial and government produced logging, where biodiversity loss and climate impacts are consistently highlighted as the primary externalities. These activities have had enormous human impacts however, particularly among Indigenous communities who historically and presently continue to experience natural resource extraction on their lands. This resource extraction continues historical practices of settler colonization, where settling institutions and governments continue to occupy and negatively impact Native lands and communities (Tuck and Yang 2012). This research will shed light on the seldom discussed relationship between institutional deforestation activities and the harm they bring towards Indigenous communities. Through a comparative case study analysis, we will investigate how large-scale deforestation practices replicate historical settler colonialism activities, whether governments executing logging operations follow the guidelines set out by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people for “free, prior, and informed consent,” and how Indigenous governance and self-determination can address future climate risk. Our four cases are the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Lands in Brazil, the Batwas people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Waswanipi Cree of Northern Quebec, and Menominee Nation of Wisconsin. Through these cases we will illuminate deforestation in a novel way through the lens of Indigenous consent and settler colonialism, while also assessing ways in which Indigenous people can be incorporated into solutions towards biodiversity retainment and climate mitigation.

0903. One-step hydrothermal synthesis with in situ milling of biologically relevant hydroxyapatite
Graduate Presentation.
Author(s): Sahar Roozbahani, Mitchell Chesleya, Raymond Kennard, Michael Mason Mentor(s): Michael Mason
Abstract: Biologically relevant synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) has become a much-desired material for use within the medical field with an emphasis on orthopedic applications. However, there are very few sources of sub-micron scale HA powders that are economical. Many current procedures to generate synthetic HA, that is both biological and chemically analogous to naturally occurring HA, tend to involve complicated synthesis procedures that are difficult to simultaneously produce desired stoichiometric ratios and particle diameter. This paper reports the development of a one-step hydrothermal method with in situ ball milling of synthetic HA. That has the potential to be a biological substitute with similar calcium to phosphate stoichiometric ratio and particle diameter of HA found in many natural biologically occulting sources. Parameters affecting particle diameter investigated included varying ball milling media, in situ and ex situ ball milling, and simultaneous agitation. The stoichiometric ratios of the resulting powders indicated that 4-hour hydrothermal reaction time produced materials that are analogous to natural HA, confirmed from spectra acquired via Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy both indicate that the predominant size of primary crystallites is around ~25 nm. Particle size distributions of dried in situ ball-milled HA suggest that primary crystallites exist as aggregates, with aggregate diameters ranging between 1 and 100 μm.

0904. The Use of Augmented Reality to Monitor Coastal Erosion
Undergraduate Presentation.
Author(s): Nicholas Sherman, Elijah Story Mentor(s): Michael Scott
Abstract: Understanding coastal erosion is important for climate studies, earth science, marine science, anthropology, and for general public interest. Measuring coastal erosion over time is often labor intensive and time consuming. Currently, the erosion is measured in the field using physical tools such as tape measures and GPS devices. The data is typically recorded and logged with paper and pencil. With the advancement of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in smartphones, an opportunity is available to revolutionize how coastal erosion is measured. Using AR, further enhanced by the inclusion of LIDAR in modern smartphones, measurements can be made in the field by virtually anyone. Utilizing two established base points, whose GPS coordinates have been recorded, the user can place virtual points at the site where measurements are being collected. The smartphone can then create a baseline in AR, and project virtual lines perpendicular to the baseline. These virtual lines, created in equal increments along the baseline, serve as the foundation for which the distances are taken and recorded. Measuring the length of these perpendicular lines is done by simply pointing their smartphones at the intersection of the line with the and the point of the eroded edge, measurements will be recorded quickly and automatically. This research into AR and the process of recording coastal erosion will not only change the way erosion is measured; it will provide the scientific community with the ability to gather accurate, relevant data efficiently using a single public and scientific tool.

0905. Understanding Indigenous connections to land in Maine through place names
Graduate Presentation.
Author(s): Madeleine Landrum, Lance Stasinski, Hazel Cashman, Haley Albano Mentor(s): Katherine Glover
Abstract: Most of our academic knowledge about Indigenous land use in New England is based on journals and other written accounts by European settlers. Those records lack the perspectives of Indigenous people and only explain land use post-contact. The goal of this project was to contribute towards narrowing this gap in knowledge through a literature review and synthesis of the data surrounding the history of the Penobscot people in the Penobscot Valley. We combined existing Penobscot oral histories, place names, pollen and charcoal data, anadromous fish migration patterns, and clamming site locations to reconstruct past environments along the Penobscot River and its outlet. We then translated this data into a StoryMap to build a collective story of the relationship between the Penobscot people and the living histories of the valley named for them. This research was done by placing oral histories and cultural knowledge of the Penobscot people as equal partners with western scientific knowledge, allowing us to develop a more comprehensive analysis than one ontology would allow. This map therefore enriches the scientific understanding of the Penobscot Valley and provides a robust example of the benefits of this integrative approach. We hope that this work will encourage future consultation with Indigenous populations among western scientists investigating relationships between humans and the landscape of the northeastern United States.