Interdisciplinary Research

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

0903. Undesigning Stigma; Motorized Wheelchair for All?
Undergraduate Presentation. Author(s): Meghan O’Neil. Mentor(s): Elizabeth DePoy.
Abstract: In this poster, we present the aggregate results of a course research project on innovative undesign and redesign of the motorized wheelchair. Undesign does not call for the absence of intentional design, but rather is a school of thought and praxis that re-visions aesthetics and function as equal partners, without the near-sighted focus on prescribed style, fad, sameness, or fragmentation. Given, that wheelchairs are among the equipment most highly stigmatized, emblematic of debility and dependence, and existentially and aesthetically feared in the visual and social climate of 2020, students in DIS 300 engaged in the undesign and then redesign of motorized wheelchairs using four design principles: Seamlessness, defined as continuity. Elegance, an attribute that does extensive work without obfuscation or ostentation. Skepticism, a model of philosophical skepticism as an ongoing and exhaustive questioning process, eliminating the potential for complacency or acceptance of a single monistic truth, Polyphany, many voices and opinions. This poster shares the innovative research, thinking, and designs of the class. Students attended to expansion of the motorized wheelchair away from disability-specific equipment to a mode of transportation. The designs features and attributes exhibit elegant and seamless principles. Of particular note is the attention given to how a stigmatized piece of equipment, with creative research and design thinking can be developed into a transportation device used by ambulatory and non-ambulatory individuals alike, in diverse contexts and environments, and embodying contemporary aesthetic properties such that the design is appealing to view, seek, and use.

0904. Working as a Team and How to Succeed: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Reducing Food Waste
Undergraduate Presentation. Author(s): Jordan Lamkins, Hannah Nadeau, Kendall Willard,Natalie Thomsen,Anthony Sutton, Deborah Saber. Mentor(s): Deborah Saber.
Abstract: Siloed research starts at the undergraduate level when students become immersed in their programs and learn disciplinary jargon and methodological procedures. However, as young professionals prepare for the workforce, employers expect candidates to communicate across demographics and disciplines. Conducting interdisciplinary research during undergraduate years allows students to work across different fields of study while pulling from discipline specific experiences. Process: We highlight our team process of uniting discipline specific research by focusing on food waste–a “wicked” problem, which acknowledges how multifaceted problems require interdisciplinarity. Collaboration can be inhibited from the outset as research silos also impact the times available for meeting due differences in labs and or standard coursework (e.g., engineering students typically fill afternoons with laboratory classes that are scheduled up to 3 times a week, and nursing students can begin 8 – 12-hour clinical courses at 6:00 am). To work through this, we created a physical and virtual space that supported ongoing engagement form students, while fostering a supportive environment committed to interdisciplinary work with food waste. Outcomes: Ongoing meeting conversations provided an interdisciplinary venue to avoid siloed work as students discuss the methods of their discipline, how they collect data, and what a solution looks like within their field of study. Our strategies for composing abstracts, presentations, and writing projects provided opportunities where the team worked across disciplines to meet deadlines and produce high-quality outputs. Through perseverance, undergraduate interdisciplinary research provides essential workforce development and creates an enriched college experience

0905. Thermal Expansion and Residual Strain Effects in AlN Thin Film Sensor Materials
Undergraduate Presentation. Author(s): David Plouff, Morton Greenslit, Mauricio Pereira da Cunha, Robert J. Lad. Mentor(s): Robert Lad.
Abstract: Aluminum nitride films are attractive materials for high temperature sensor devices because of their stable piezoelectric and semiconducting properties up to 800ºC in air, above which the films degrade by oxidation. In this work, epitaxial AlN (002) films were grown at 930ºC on c-cut sapphire substrates by N2-plasma-assisted Al evaporation and were characterized up to 1000ºC in air using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) sample hot stage. The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) was determined from accurate measurements of the c-axis lattice parameter for AlN and sapphire during thermal cycling between 30-700ºC, and film oxidation was evaluated above 700ºC from the relative decrease in the AlN (002) XRD intensity. AlN films grown to 300 nm thickness have c-axis compressive strain, but this residual strain can be relieved and or become tensile by thermal cycling. The CTE values of 1.4-2.5×10-6/ºC for the as-deposited films decreased as the film strain was released and is below the value of 4.2×10-6/ºC reported for bulk AlN. Understanding the level of residual film strain and thermal expansion matching across the relevant interfaces is key for preventing delamination, cracking, and failure of sensor components while being used under high temperature harsh environment conditions.

0906. Enteric microflora dysbiosis: Impact on sleep fragmentation and mild cognitive impairment in aging adults
Undergraduate Presentation. Author(s): Ben Williams, Jessica Aronis, Chris Gilbert, Marta Herzog, Gabriella Cyr, Bailey Carter. Mentor(s): Marie Hayes.
Abstract: It is projected that, by 2050, the global prevalence of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) will reach 106.4 million. Given that Maine is the most elderly U.S. state by percentage, AD has the potential to become a public health crisis. Previous studies on the pathophysiological mechanisms of early AD, or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), have determined that sleep and circadian rhythm disorders in MCI are common. In addition, MCI risk is increased by a Western diet characterized by high fat and sugar intake. A known bidirectional relationship between the human brain and intestinal microflora, coined the gut-brain-axis, has provoked researchers to examine the correlation between sleep, diet, and neurological disorders. In this study, MCI and cognitively normal aging adults (N=96; 60-90 years of age) were examined with 7-days of actigraphy for sleep patterning. Diet was examined using the Dietary Fat and Free Sugar – Short Questionnaire (DFS) in order to assess the impact of diet-induced enteric microflora dysbiosis on sleep fragmentation. While the DFS is not capable of confirming gut dysbiosis, participants were categorized as “Likely At Risk” or “Likely Not At Risk” for gut dysbiosis based on DFS responses in accordance to USDA 2020 Dietary Guidelines. Multivariate statistical analyses were utilized to determine the correlation between the quality of the aging adults’ diets and brief, intermittent sleep arousals. Preliminary results show that poor nutritional habits are associated with elevated sleep fragmentation as well as MCI status.

0907. Designing a Crowdsourced Website to Make Math Easier
Undergraduate Presentation. Author(s): Spencer Ward, Justin Dimmel. Mentor(s): Justin Dimmel.
Abstract: Nobody knows how people learn math. Education researchers have been able to identify effective ways of teaching it, and neuroscientists have offered insight into the way it works in the brain, but at best, educators have only heuristics approximating students’ comprehension of new topics. Work done in the field of embodied cognition, a branch of cognitive science that emphasizes the experiential basis of cognitive structures, complicates matters further by suggesting that learner comprehension could be as varied as the learners’ life experiences. For the time being, it seems reasonable to suspect that the full complexity teaching could be beyond comprehension. In that sense, real change in math education may be dominated by evolutionary processes taking place at scale as students impact individual educators, and as individual educators impact their peers. At present, traditional classrooms are effective at supporting responsive and creative education techniques on small scales, and academic research can spreads small scale wisdom with other educators, but they lack the centrality needed to attract large scale collaboration. Online options like Wikipedia and Wolfram MathWorld offer the benefit of centralizing collaboration among educators, but they fail to take advantage of student feedback.
This project will propose a website design meant to support centralized collaboration among educators while preserving the data generated in learner experiences. Features will be proposed to track the success of individual parts of explanations and compare competing explanations. Collaboration tools will emphasize experimentation and critique. The final design will be developed after the author’s graduation.

0908. Protecting the Last Stronghold: Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for Wild Maine Brook Trout
Graduate Presentation. Author(s): Jennifer Smith-Mayo, Bridie McGreavy. Mentor(s): Bridie McGreavy.
Abstract: In the Eastern United States, native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) populations are in critical decline due to causes such as climate change, acid rain, non-native species introduction, overfishing, sedimentation, fragmentation, and pollution. Maine is home to the last “extensive intact populations of wild, self-producing, brook trout in lakes and ponds” in the contiguous United States. Wild brook trout have lived in Maine since the last glacial retreat, approximately 9,000 to 10,000 years ago, and are an indicator species of a healthy ecosystem. A member of the charr family, brook trout have adapted to thrive in brooks, streams, ponds, lakes, and the ocean, but for survival, need clean, cool, well-oxygenated water, and gravel spawning beds near percolating groundwater or springs, free of sediment and pollution. Native Americans, especially the Aroostook Band of Micmacs, depend on fishing for wild brook trout as a culturally significant food source. As the climate changes, brook trout face significant risk of losing precious cold-water habitat due to warming water temperatures, pollution, contamination, and reduction in stream flow. An increase in water temperatures, especially in streams, stresses brook trout, which can be fatal. This research disseminates current and future strategies for native brook trout protection through fieldwork, interviews, and a literature survey. These strategies include: environmental DNA (eDNA) detection, the Remote Ponds Project survey, the Micmac Farms brook trout hatchery, the Maine Heritage Fish Sign Project, the Advanced Partnerships Project (in development), climate change monitoring, population status evaluation, and catch-and-release and restraint angling practices.

0910. Methodology for the Use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Colonial Waterbird Population Studies
Graduate Presentation. Author(s): Meredith Lewis, Logan Kline, Alex Revello, Lauren Maher, Daniel Hayes. Mentor(s): Cynthia Loftin.
Abstract: Colonial waterbirds are in decline worldwide due to habitat destruction, changes in fishing regimes, and climate change. Gathering accurate estimates of abundance, distribution, and productivity are central to understanding the effects of stressors on colonial waterbirds and informing conservation decisions. Plane-based imagery and ground counts are integral for gathering population data for these species. However, ground counts can introduce high levels of disturbance, and plane-based surveys are not applicable to all species. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) offer greater image resolution, reduced potential of observers damaging chicks and nests, and may reduce predation caused by disturbance. However, species-specific protocols for UAVs are poorly developed, particularly with respect to minimizing disturbance during surveys and accounting for detection probability in estimates derived from imagery. This research addresses these gaps by implementing hierarchical models, such as n-mixture models, to gather robust estimates of waterbird abundance and productivity. We will compare abundance estimates between plane, UAV, and ground-based surveys. We will evaluate how UAVs affect bird behavior based on flight parameters such as height above the ground. This research will not only estimate colonial waterbird abundance on Gulf of Maine islands and coastal areas, but will contribute to protocol development for future use of UAVs in avian population studies beyond the Gulf of Maine.