UMSS22 Interdisciplinary Sciences

UMSS22 Presentations by Category

UMSS22 Social Sciences

UMSS22 Natural Sciences

UMSS21 Biomedical Sciences

UMSS22 Physical and Mathematical Sciences

UMSS22 Engineering and Information Sciences

UMSS22 Business, Education, and Art

UMSS22 Allied Health

 

Interdisciplinary Sciences

901. Comparing Municipal COVID-19 Response in Inland vs. Coastal Communities in Maine

Submission Type: Poster
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Tamra Benson
Ben Cotton
Annie Coburn
Kathleen Bell
Vanessa Levesque
Eileen Johnson

Undergraduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Kathleen Bell

Abstract: COVID-19 is an ongoing problem across the world that has required a direct response from all scales of governments. While a national approach is imperative, state and local governments are pivotal in dispersing critical information by tailoring their responses to address local problems. In this research, we looked at the differences between Maine inland and coastal communities in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined the digital communication response of 50 coastal and 50 inland municipalities, ranging in size from 26 to 25,515 residents, and we interviewed 20 municipalities about their COVID-19 responses. We found that coastal and larger municipalities demonstrated greater digital communications regarding COVID-19 compared to inland and smaller municipalities. However, interviews suggest that many municipalities, regardless of location or size, were able to provide residents with additional resources during the pandemic by forming partnerships within their towns. Our results underscore the importance of municipal governments, in answering questions and resolving issues regarding current pandemic conditions. Thus, through this research, we aim to identify ways to enhance the capacity of municipalities to communicate and provide services during crises.

902. Embodiment as a Theme and Process in Collaborative Research

Submission Type: Poster
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Jennifer Smith-Mayo
Michael Clay
Bridie McGreavy
Heather Leslie
Angela Wotton

Graduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Bridie McGreavy

Abstract: The purpose of our work is to center the concept of embodiment in research through describing the fine-grained practices and everyday interactions that shape collaborative research in the contexts of watershed restoration and environmental monitoring. We focus on embodiment because it offers a means for attending to the process and politics of knowledge production within and across disciplinary boundaries. Paying attention to embodied practices among collaborators, such as how we share ideas with each other, or decide what types of questions we ask, can help researchers understand how communication, and embodiment, shape collaboration. We describe these practices by drawing on findings from two case studies. In the first case, we describe insights from a project in the Meduxnekeag Watershed as we worked with partners to design an interview protocol that asks farmers how the act of farming helps them shape relationships with land and water. In the second case, we position research as an embodied action through co-creating a knowledge map to define environmental-DNA. Knowledge mapping relies on embodied processes as participants share ideas and shape research through discussion, listening, learning from each other, and organizing knowledge visually on the map. These cases highlight insights about how scholarly commitments to embodiment emerge amidst increasingly complex research questions involving conservation, sustainability, climate change, and environmental justice. In focusing on embodiment, we summarize opportunities for developing collaborative research relationships by building community partnerships, creating story maps, and developing ethical research practices–such as listening and sharing–in the co-production of knowledge with diverse partners.

 

903. Promoting Health for Passamaquoddy Tribal Members through Alternative Energy Solutions

Submission Type: Poster
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Jasmine Lamb
Mary O’Flaherty
Sharon Klein

Undergraduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Sharon Klein

Abstract: The goal of this research is to co-produce information about what issues Passamaquoddy citizens face inside of the home. Passamaquoddy is the anglicized version of the word Peskotomuhkati, which means “people of the pollock”. Today, Passamaquoddy people have two reservations in Maine (Pleasant Point and Indian Township) and one in New Brunswick, Canada, and many individuals live off-reservation. Information was collected from all Passamaquoddy citizens regardless of residence. Knowledge will be co-produced about, for, and interpreted with the community through informal interviews and surveys with citizens of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. Possible alternative energy/technology solutions that can be implemented in the home to address these issues will be explored, as well as the preferences and willingness of citizens to implement possible solutions. Another goal of this research is to assess how the public health of the community is affected by climate change and drivers of climate change such as pollution. The health of indigenous communities who rely on traditional ways of subsistence is inextricably tied to the health of the environment. Passamaquoddy communities face unique challenges to public health (spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically) and economic security because of their use of natural resources, such as elvers, clams, brown ash, blueberry crops, etc., which are all affected by climate change. The responses of citizens will be amalgamated into a report to document the needs and preferences of the community and to help inform future projects of which alternative energy solutions are appropriate for and preferred by the community.

 

904. The Use of Augmented Reality to Monitor Coastal Erosion

Submission Type: Poster
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Nicholas Sherman
Elijah Story
Michael Scott

Undergraduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Michael Scott

Abstract: As smartphone technology becomes more powerful, new tools are now available to make scientific measurements more efficient. One of these is Augmented Reality, which uses the smartphone screen to superimpose virtual images on a video feed of the real world. This, combined with built-in LiDAR sensors, allows for new smartphones to map the real world quickly and accurately. By applying this technology to the measurement of coastal erosion, inconsistencies can be eliminated and the process more streamlined. Current methodology involves the use of physical tools (tape measure and GPS devices), followed by manual recording of the information on paper data sheets. Using AR and LiDAR, we have created an iOS application that allows a user to gather measurements quickly and efficiently. Using pre-existing base points established in the real world, the user can place virtual points at fixed increments at a measurement site. The smartphone then automatically creates a virtual baseline and virtual, perpendicular lines along this baseline. The user then simply looks at each line and marks a virtual point on the line to record each measurement, reducing error introduced by non-parallel measurement lines and inconsistent increments. Measurements are stored on the smartphone and automatically uploaded to a database. As a result, coastal erosion measurement is improved. Data is accurately and efficiently collected using only a smartphone, opening coastal erosion measurement for a wide range of users.

 

905. EDGE AR – Detect Your Surroundings

Submission Type: Exhibit
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
David Lavoie
Jon Ippolito

Undergraduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Jon Ippolito

Abstract: EDGE AR is a hardware software solution designed to enhance and evolve the current state of eyewear. The goal is to display the potential for augmented reality to enhance the modern set of glasses, and shape them up to provide accessibility through edge detection.
This project is designed to show off the future potential of edge detection in pairing with augmented reality glasses. EDGE AR is a proof of concept application that has a Unity Demo, a working Python Prototype, and a mobile application developed for mobile through an application called Expo. The Expo application uses the phone’s camera with different overlays to simulate edge detection, and different view augmentations.
The idea was inspired by accessibility and usability as a tool. Low-light situations, hard to see angles, and altered visual sight could be aided by this application. The tool should be used as a visual assistant to create an augmented view of the world that highlights an array of objects for a better differentiation.

 

906. Bangor Pride Mobile App – Presentation withdrawn from judging

Submission Type: Exhibit
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Alyssa Demanche
Jon Ippolito

Undergraduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Jon Ippolito

Abstract: The upcoming Bangor Pride festival and parade brings together a variety of local businesses, restaurants, and community organizations in support of the LGBTQ+ community throughout the month of June. However, a common problem within festivals such as these is that visitors can often feel overwhelmed with the amount of activities and engagements. Working alongside Pride organizers at the Maine Health Equity Alliance (HEAL), a non-profit organization that provides sexual health, wellness services, and harm reduction programs jointly in support of the LGBTQ+ community, a passport app was developed that would act as a single location for visitors to see what types of events and activities are available during the Pride festival. This app will help boost community engagement by promoting local businesses through a scavenger hunt in which users will answer fun questions on quirky details of the store or restaurant they are visiting. The goal is to have participants and community members go and support as many local areas throughout the month with a prize for the biggest Bangor supporter.

 

907. Detecting Shared Touch Surface Contamination with a Deep Learning-Enhanced Smartphone and Nanopatterned Material System

Submission Type: Poster
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Ainslie Allen
Josh Andle
Oisin Biswas
RJ Perry
Salimeh Yasaei Sekeh
Caitlin Howell

Undergraduate Student Presentation

Faculty Mentor: Caitlin Howell

Abstract: Shared-touch surfaces can transmit diseases when not cleaned properly. Some methods of surface contamination detection exist, but nearly none are immediately accessible, hands-free, and do not require specialized equipment. This work is focused on building a deep-learning driven, smartphone-based system that interacts with nanopatterned surface appliques and identifies contamination on a surface. We used a nanopatterned material that acts as a diffraction grating and measured the difference in the refracted light pattern when the material was clean and when it was contaminated. Unlike nearly all other applications of nanopatterned diffraction gratings, our applique material is mass-produced by a Maine paper company, making it both able to be applied over large areas and affordable. The light diffracting off our nanopatterned material resulted in bright rainbows which changed significantly in intensity, length, and color composition, as measured with a standard smartphone camera, when the surface was contaminated with oil. Using this system, we were able to detect oil contamination down to a volume of 0.1μL over a surface area of 64cm2 when the data were processed manually. We then trained a convolutional neural network (CNN), ResNet 50, to detect these differences. The network was able to detect contamination at an even lower volume of 0.0001 μL over a surface area of 64cm2. Training the CNN on the collected data improved the detection performance by over 100%. Additionally, by changing the angle of the smartphone and the light source, we were able to effectively scan the surface to search for areas of contamination and under ambient light conditions, making it more applicable to use in everyday life. Adding the angle and light features into the CNN method provides extra information to the neural network and leads to a robust learning process. Together, the results demonstrate that a deep-learning-enhanced nanopatterned material system can detect general surface contamination, which may help identify potentially infectious contamination on shared touch surfaces.

 

908. Understanding Sense of Place in Maine Through Community Cookbooks

Submission Type: Virtual Presentation
Submission Category: Interdisciplinary Research

Author(s):
Rachel Church
Susan Smith

Faculty Mentor: Susan Smith

Graduate Student Presentation

Abstract: Community cookbooks have been published in Maine from 1877 to today. As artifacts of a specific community in a specific place in a specific time, they can be used as tools for understanding Maine’s sense of place, defined as the socially constructed, multivocal, and ever-changing relationship between the land and those who inhabit it. When compared to commercially produced cookbooks, they give more accurate insight into what people actually cooked and ate in a particular community and time because the recipes are submitted by actual community members as “tried, tested, and proved.” Community cookbooks can reveal a relationship to the land and/or connection to greater national and global communities through the use of local ingredients, national packaged brands, and international ingredients or recipes. Looking at multiple cookbooks produced over a period time can show change in these relationships. Additional illustrations and narrative text provide more information on the community’s relationship to place. Recipe attribution allows for social connections to be mapped within a community, particularly when cross referenced with additional sources. In addition to documenting the social networks within a community, the act of creating or cooking from a community cookbook is also an active vehicle for creating and strengthening that community. Understanding community cookbooks as artifacts is useful not only in understanding the historical sense of place in a certain time, but they also play a role in place-making by informing an individual’s (or community’s) understanding of their own history, which provides context for understanding their current relationship with a place.