A Day Dedicated to Academic Excellence and Lifelong Learning
University Day provides students with a simulated conference experience, offering a unique platform for presenting academic projects, engaging in discussions, and building skills essential for professional success.
Posters
Presenters: Sage Roling
Faculty Mentor: Lori Kilcollins
We picked a proposed bill in the Maine legislative about dying with dignity. We researched and analyzed the bill. There was also a survey made given out to the students to see what other people thought about the bill and thus subject since it can be somewhat of a touchy subject.
Presenters: Elise Gudde
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chunzeng Wang
GIS methods such as on-screen-digitizing method were applied to generate a water pipeline system GIS database, the very first one for Presque Isle Utilities District (PIUD). This project is part of a large community-service project of utility mapping for PIUD. The water pipelines connect water-main valves that were mapped with a Trimble GPS unit in 2016-2017. The constructed water utility GIS database helps PIUD for advanced asset management, maintenance and planning.
Presenters: Cassidy Gerrish
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chunzeng Wang
In this community service project, high-precision Trimble GPS was used to map all fire hydrants and water valves and to collect their attribute data and on-screen-digitizing method was applied to create water pipeline system GIS map. The final product is a comprehensive water utilities GIS database developed for Ashland, Maine.
Presenters: Seth Cropley, Cody Theriult
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chunzeng Wang
Advanced GPS and GIS technologies were applied to map fire hydrants (169 in total) for the Loring Commerce Center, once the Loring Air Force Base. A digital high-precision fire hydrant GIS database/map was created, the first one for the Center. It will be used for asset management and planning purpose.
Presenters: Victoria Studholme
Faculty Mentor: Lori Kilcollins
As social workers, we are expected to be aware and knowledgeable of the legislation that affects children and their families. In recent circumstances, an individual who was deemed a registered sexual offender was caught taking pictures of minors in public places. Government officials in Maine Legislation have created a bill to deem this act a class D. Through the poster, we are going to look at what society has to say about it, how it influences children and families, and what it looks like for future social workers.
Presenter: Samantha Boyce
Faculty Mentor: Chunzeng Wang
GPR (ground penetrating radar), GPS, and GIS technologies were applied to map two old cemeteries in Bridgewater as a community service project. Some graves without markers were identified with GPR and digital maps showing owner lots and burial plots were made for the first time for both cemeteries.
Presenters: Emma Gogan, Caress Grenier
Faculty Mentor: Lori Kilcollins
Our poster provides information on Maine Legislation that will impact and benefit families in the state of Maine. It is aimed at creating the awareness of “An Act To Provide Economic Security to Maine Families through the Creation of a Paid Family Medical Leave System”.
Presenters: Caleb Ward, Zachary Brooks, Elise Gudde, Connor Hrynuk, Gannon Pratt, Samantha Bonczyk
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Chunzeng Wang
Chandler Mountain is geologically significant because it represents one of only a small handful of igneous plutons in Northern Maine. In the fall of 2017, out team mapped the Chandler Mountain pluton, which is a round, medium-grained porphyritic biotite granite of Devonian age and its Ordovician and Devonian volcanic and sedimentary country rocks, as our Bedrock Geology class project. Noteworthy findings include outcrops of intrusive contact and a newly discovered basal conglomerate member of the Devonian Saboomook Formation. The result of this mapping effort has effectively redrawn the geologic map of the area around Chandler Mountain.
Presenters: Christopher Daly, Christopher Bernier
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baker
In recent years, the prominence of the use of pre-workout has increased drastically. There is a danger behind pre-workout because the lack of FDA approval needed before selling to the public. The question we face is if there is a safer route to get the extra edge while exercising. This survey study is the looking into effects of caffeine derived strictly from coffee and its relationship to exercising. Caffeine has psychological and physiological effects. The positive and negative effects associated with caffeine can change the way a person feels in the weight room and that is what we are here to find out.
Presenters: Nicole Marucci, Sarah MacKenzie
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baker
It is suspected that our athletes are not getting enough sleep on a daily basis, and that affects their athletic performance for their teams. A questionnaire and week-long sleep log was used to gather information, comparing it to online resources to determine the amount of sleep one should be getting for their athleticism, major, and age. This may help coaches and athletes plan trips, practice, and other aspects of their seasons by allowing them to know how much sleep athletes should be getting for peak performance.
Presenters: Allison Lopez
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baker
I believe that ballet training has a positive effect on an athlete’s physical well-being, to the point it can reduce injury rates. Little research has been done to test this correlation. Research has shown that dance training increases flexibility, joint mobility, and range of motion. From the research, I developed a month long ballet-training program and implemented it with four UMPI athletes. Through this project, I have found an untapped area of research that has the potential to benefit many athletes physical health and keep them involved in the sports they love.
Presenters: Lydia Tilley
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Larry Feinstein
We extracted DNA and sequenced the genomes of 28 bacterial pathogens obtained from TAMC. Our analysis identified 739 antibiotic resistance genes. There were 142 different genes, with an average high of 52 genes within E. coli to a low of 2 genes within S. maltophilia. 20% of the genes were found in a single isolate’s DNA and 12% found in multiple genera. Of the 142 different genes, 66% coded for efflux pump subunits, 20% for antibiotic inactivation, 9% for antibiotic target replacement, and 5% for altering cell permeability to the antibiotic. Ongoing analysis includes identifying potential targets for new antibiotics.
Presenters: Cody Theriault
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Larry Feinstein
Pectobacterium parmentieri produces bacterial soft rot disease in tubers during post-harvest storage. This study was to quantify differences in soft rot for tubers in storage treated with fungicide versus untreated. Tubers pre-infected at 2%, 4%, or 0% were deployed in storage bins October 2017. Treatment bags assessed December 2017 had higher incidence rate in treated tubers, but in January 2018, the rate decreased in both bins and the incidence rate remained constant. Conditions in bins indicated phosphorous acid may prolong the time it takes for tuber surfaces to dry which may provide environmental conditions favorable for soft rot to spread.
Presenters: Tamara Tompkins
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baker
The “optimal” amount of sleep one needs varies among individuals and has been a trending topic for researchers. There are a number of different strategies to track trends or habits affecting sleep, and there are also different wearable devices meant to track sleeping cycles. These strategies can relate sleeping habits to how they may affect every day functions, particularly in the world of professional and collegiate athletics, with the ultimate goal of gaining a competitive edge on opponents. This poster aims at summarizing the recent research trends on the effects of sleep on performance, and in particular, performance in athletics.
Presenters: Jasmine Pelletier, Kimberly Griffith
Faculty Mentor: Lori Kilcollins
An act is being proposed to reduce child poverty by leveraging investments in families for tomorrow. The Act proposes two programs that are intended to strengthen low-income families financial stability; program one being food supplement training program and program two is for families who have infant children that fall under the 185% of the federal poverty level who are pursuing a postsecondary degree.
Presenters: Ryan Tebo
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Larry Feinstein
Potato virus Y infection presents a major concern for potato crops. The reported PVY host range is 495 different plant species. This range is based on seropositive results of ELISA assays, which detect a protein on the virus coat. We extracted RNA from PVY-positive dandelions (based on ELISA) and conducted RT-PCR. All samples tested negative for PVY. These results were confirmed with electron microscopy at UMaine Orono. We proposed that because ELISA produced false positive results on dandelion, this may be true of other species and the notion of the extremely broad PVY host range may need to be re-evaluated.
Presenters: Jesus Gonzalez, Max Bushman
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Larry Feinstein
The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of forest tree communities on 734 acres owned by the Aroostook Band of Micmacs to sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide gas as soil organic carbon. Leaves and soil were collected at 74 sampling plots, and litterbags were deployed to determine decomposition rates. Leaf production, litter decomposition, and soil organic carbon data are being analyzed to determine species and communities that are the most efficient at storing atmospheric CO2 in forest soils. The results will be utilized by the Aroostook Band of Micmacs to determine effective forest management strategies.
Presenters: Sabrina Douglas, Ryan Tebo
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Judith Roe
Germ granules are important for fertility during animal development to establish the germline. In Caenorhabditis elegans these germ granules localize to the nuclear envelope and the RNA helicase protein GLH-1 is important in their formation and maintenance. We created a deletion mutation in the glh-1::GFP gene using the new method of gene editing, CRISPR/Cas9 and looked at the effects of losing the gene’s function.
Presenters: Alex Kimball
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Judith Roe
With 40 plus species in Maine alone, freshwater snails are important to the ecology of lakes and ponds. We analyzed the DNA sequence at four separate gene regions from 2 species native to Maine in order to determine their genetic relationship to other similar snail species in the same genus found in the Northeast region.
Presenters: Christian Lunn, Austin Bernier
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baker
The purpose of this project was to determine if there is a connection between the benefits of endurance training and strength training combined. Our hypothesis was that people who performed both endurance and strength training would not see the same benefits as someone who only performed strength training. To test this hypothesis we had two groups of 5 people, one group who performed strength training and one group who combined strength training with endurance. It was performed over a month long period after which we recorded their gains. Both groups strength went up at the same rate, making our hypothesis false.
Presenters: Shea Brown
Staff Mentor: Rowena McPherson
In this poster presentation, I will be showcasing what UMPI is doing to stay connected to students and the community. Addressing what forms of social media we are utilizing, the response UMPI has received since starting their accounts, and what else we can be doing to reach out. I will be holding a quick survey asking students and community members what social media websites they visit, if they are following any of UMPI’s accounts, and any comments/suggestions they may have about UMPI’s online presence.
Session 1
Presenters: Monica Hewitt, Erin Keehn, Meghan Legassie, Tong Liu
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jacqui Lowman
We have overcome the impossible. They said it couldn’t be done. Facing our inner demons, societal barriers and strengthening each other as we go has allowed us to create something that will help all people challenge their impossible. Because together, nothing is impossible.
Presenters: Alyssa Finlay; Chandler Madore; Kody Gates; Victoria Studholme; Michael Guerrette; Kyle Rider; Hailey Nadeau; Seth Cropley; Russel Theriault; Doran Labree; Abigail Deveau; Lauren Mitchell; Sarah-Jane Parker; Samantha Currier
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lisa Leduc
Students in the Honors Women & Crime class will present their service learning work helping female inmates at the Women’s Reentry Center in Windham, ME.
Presenters: Sarah Draper, Samantha Bonczyk, Lily Logiodice
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John DeFelice
This presentation is a discussion on the awful phenomena called female infanticide in the Greco-Roman world. Female infanticide is the systematic killing or forced prostitution of female children born during this time period. We will discuss the similarities and differences of this topic in Greece and Rome, as well as highlight the reason this practice died out and the modern day implications.
Presenters: Michael Dobbs, Connor Murphy, Katherine Asam
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John DeFelice
To understand the different gender roles in the ancient world we must look at the writings of the time. One source that we can use to understand the different roles each gender had is the Myths that were told and written down in from these times. Different Gods were given different attributes that define what it meant to be a good man or woman. Even the stories of some of the heroes from this time show us the differences in the roles of men and women
Session 2
Presenters: Evan Zarkadas, Adam Weyeneth, Michael Boon
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John DeFelice
The concept of Greek Homosexuality has been one of the most controversial topics for centuries. This presentation will focus on the aspects of Greek Homosexuality, the reason behind the action and mostly will point out the common misconceptions and misunderstanding of that idea in our views. Western society since its introduction to the Judeo-Christian religion has been changed to the point of misunderstanding past concepts and ideas. Our approach for this topic will be based on our research and evidence from many current and old sources without any influence of common viewpoints and understandings.
Presenters: Erin Keehn, Meghan Legassie, Tong Liu, Monica Hewitt
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jacqui Lowman
Join us as we recount our past adventures through PCJ. We’ll discuss the lessons we’ve learned, the lasting memories, and what we plan to do moving forward. Get an inside look at how we’ve used our skills to help the community and create long lasting benefits for everyone involved.
Presenters: Shawn Seeley; Ryan DuBois; Alyssa Finlay; Tori Tacy; Bjorn Bartlett; Brooke Hallett; Josiah Sherwood; Jake Worthley; Zach Quint; Courtney Cote; Seth Cropley; Valentina Annunziata
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lisa Leduc
Students in the Criminal Justice Club will present details about their recent trip through Maine. Highlights of tours of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, Maine State Crime Lab, and Portland Police Department will be combined with stories from their ride alongs with Portland police department and Bangor Police department.
Presenters: PHE 123 class
Faculty Mentor: Leo Saucier
My class (PHE 123) will host a square dance. Each class member is bringing a guest and I will lead the group in some basic square dance calls. All are welcomed to join in.
Session 3
Presenters: Tiffany Smith, Alissa Sinclair, Brandy Smith, Evelyn Racine, Garrett DeLong Megan King
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jacqui Lowman
Join Saint on her media journey. The Beyond Limits website is not only a hub for the non-profit organization but is also a new outlet for her to spread awareness. Her Facebook is a platform through which information on service dogs can be spread. Saint’s Instagram is a quick and effective way to educate people with pictures. She is using YouTube to express a visual representation of what her day-to-day life is like. Twitter is a place where she can actively engage an audience through concise wording to educate and inspire. Saint is using Pinterest as a mode to help spread information about life as a service dog.
Presenters: Sarah Harris, Adam Weyeneth, Evan Zarkadas, Darius Haskell
Faculty Mentors: Dr. John DeFelice, Dr. Lea Allen
Interested in being a part of UMPI’s future? Sarah Harris, Adam Weyeneth, Evan Zarkadas, and Darius Haskell have been working with faculty to redesign and reimplement the UMPI Honors Program. Our presentation will highlight the core values we have established as being integral to an Honors program. These include leadership skills, inquiry & analysis, problem solving, integrative learning, and civic engagement. We welcome feedback from students, faculty, and the community to consider as we continue to develop this program.
Presenters: Valentina Annunziata
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Lisa Leduc
As the 2018 Maine Policy Scholar, I chose to research the topic of Continuity of Care for Mentally Ill Inmates in Maine’s Jails. I was inspired to do this research when I learned that some inmates incarcerated in Maine have to wait 30-days by policy to receive their medications. I will present my work to date, including interviews with Maine Department of Corrections administrators and correctional officers, mental health professionals, and inmate advocates. These interviews have shaped my policy recommendations with the goal that Maine can reach a higher gold standard of care for inmates suffering with mental illness.
Presenters: Alyssa Summerson, Emily Nadeau
Faculty Mentor: Shirley Rush
Alyssa Summerson and Emily Nadeau recently spent 7 weeks in Tanzania, Africa in the summer of 2017. This experience was gained through an internship at Ushirika wa Neema Orphanage as a means to cover a 200 hour requirement for a Junior Field course in the Social Work Program here at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. This adventure consisted of learning and practicing the cultural values with comparison to their own. They had the wonderful opportunity to spend their time with over 30 children by teaching them songs, playing, and many laughs. This trip changed the lives of Alyssa and Emily forever and to give back to the public for their support, this presentation will share photos and conversation about this opportunity.
Session 4
Presenters: Erin McLellan, Sara Boies, Sarah Draper, Cason Harris, Tristen Sutherland
Faculty Mentor: Alana Margeson
Since the 2012 inception of L.D. 1422, a proficiency-based education law, Maine teachers have been engaged in the complex and critical work of preparing all students for college and career. Being mindful of this shift, UMPI’s Education program now incorporates a mandatory course- “Designing Learning in a Proficiency-Based Education System”. Additionally, Education students are preparing for PBE classrooms through school site visits, Proficiency Partners, and a “School Re-Design in Action” conference. This session will describe changes inherent in preparing for teaching in PBE environments and will provide first-hand accounts of involvement in these distinguishing facets of UMPI’s Education program.
Presenters: Alex Brittain, Isiah Jensen, Adan Mohamed
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John DeFelice
We will discusses slavery and Marriage in Ancient Rome and how ancient traditional still shapes our modern world. How the ancient Rome viewed women as nothing but property of her father and husband. What were the difference between Rome slaves and other slaves around the world, such as punishment, literacy and getting freedom?
Presenters: Monica Hewitt
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jacqui Lowman
Giving back the community is not about politics. Party lines do not matter when someone needs your help. This presentation takes you inside an internship that is all about benefiting others, regardless of their viewpoints.
Session 5
Presenters: Sara Packard
Faculty Mentor: Patrick Baker
Student-athletes are subjected to unique stressors due to the dual demands of athletics and academics. Student-athletes often find themselves facing mental health challenges, such as anxiety and depression. When mental health disorders occur, the athlete is functioning and performance is disturbed. The goal of this project is to increase awareness of mental health concerns in the student-athlete population at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, as well as implement a mental health emergency action plan to help those student-athletes who may experience a mental health crisis. This increased awareness leads to higher quality of care for the athlete’s mental well-being.
Presenters: Arianna Forbes
Faculty Mentor: Hyrum Benson
Life is born by the way of the vagina. Vaginas are a part of just about everyone’s life. Unfortunately, though, the mere image of, or simply saying the word vagina tends to elicit a negative response or make people uncomfortable. However, too often, they are comfortable enough to use the vagina against women when shaming them. With shining a light on men’s persistent use of demeaning and debauched language; Forbes wants to show the impact the ignorant words have on women and hopes to empower them to use their vaginas as the basis of their fundamental strength.
Presenters: Victoria Studholme
Faculty Mentor: Kim-Anne Perkins
With the recent increase of Mass Shootings and School Shootings, we, as a society, need to look at the aspects that have influenced the rational of these “shooters”. Looking through sociological theories, we can come to a term of understanding and how we can benefit in the shootings, and how we can prevent it.
Presenters: Huiting Yang, Tong Liu, Yuhe Tian, Shucan Wang
Faculty Mentor: Kimberly Jones
Yunnan is a province, located in the southwest of China, with high altitude (1500m to 3000) and low latitude, high mountains and deep valleys the climate ranging from the Frigid Zone to the Temperate Folks describe Yunnan as cultural diversity and rich ethnic-minority. People define that Yunnan is “The kingdom of plants, the ocean of flowers, the kingdom of animals and wildlife, karst land-form, karst terrain, tropical rain-forest. “Yunnan is the “Kingdom of Nonferrous Metals” as well. The reserves of Lead, Zinc and tin rank first in China, while copper and nickel rank third.
Presenters: Katharine Waldron
Faculty Mentor: Dr. John DeFelice
Maine has one of the top high school graduation rates in the country but some of the lowest college completion rates among its higher Ed institutions. Why is that? Is it a lack of students enrolling in higher education or the lack of support systems for pursuing higher ed for some of Maine’s neediest students? This presentation looks at ongoing research being done to see how we can support our low-income students throughout the state of Maine and get them on track for a college or technical career path.