Press Releases

A Biology professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle recently presented a paper on parasites and how they can be useful to middle school teachers during a National Association of Biology teachers [NABT] meeting in Memphis, Tenn.

Dr. Andrea Gorman Gelder noted in her paper “Parasites for the Classroom” that 5th to 8th grade teachers have a unique opportunity to incorporate common arthropod parasites into their curricula. According to Gorman, more than 50 percent of earth’s organisms have adopted a parasitic life style. She explained that well known arthropods like mosquitoes, lice, fleas and ticks serve as “vectors of diseases” and have had a profound effect on both public health and history. They have been responsible for disseminating such pestilence as malaria, plague, West Nile Virus and Lyme disease.

Officials from the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Lumus Construction Inc. held a press conference on Monday, Nov. 24 at 11 a.m. to announce the details of their $2 million project to install a 600 kW wind turbine on the northern Maine campus.

The project establishes UMPI as the first university in the State of Maine and one of only a handful in New England to install a mid-size wind turbine. The turbine will produce about 1 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and is expected to save the institution more than $100,000 annually in electricity charges. It also will save an estimated 572 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere each year, or the equivalent of removing 123 cars from the road.

“We are so very pleased to be announcing the details of this historic project, which will help to meet the campus’s energy needs, significantly reduce our energy costs, and help us to leave a much small carbon footprint,” President Don Zillman said. “This is the most significant renewable energy project we, as a campus, have ever undertaken, and we are both proud and humbled to be stepping forward as a statewide leader in the utilization of wind as a renewable energy resource.”

The University of Maine at Presque Isle expects to begin generating clean energy in late spring 2009 after reaching an agreement with general contractor Lumus Construction Inc. on a $2 million project to install a 600 kW wind turbine on the northern Maine campus.

“This is an historic moment for the University of Maine at Presque Isle, one that encompasses both our efforts to make wind energy generation on campus a reality and our willingness to serve as a leader on the community wind project front,” President Don Zillman said. “With this agreement, we not only will be decreasing our carbon footprint, but also serving our role as an educational, community and statewide leader in green power use. We couldn’t be more excited.”

This agreement establishes UMPI as the first university in the state and one of only a handful in New England to install a mid-size wind turbine.

University and Lumus Construction Inc. officials will host a press conference at 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 24 in the Campus Center to announce project details and host a formal contract signing ceremony. All are invited to attend this important occasion.

A University of Maine at Presque Isle professor was honored recently with a prestigious award for professionals in the field of medical technology and clinical laboratory science.

Dr. Linda Graves, UMPI professor of Medical Laboratory Technology and co-director of the Medical Laboratory Program of Maine, was presented with the Pine Tree Award during the Northeast Laboratory Conference held in late October 2008. The award, presented by the American Medical Technologists, the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science of Maine, and the Clinical Laboratory Managers Association, was given in recognition of Graves’ many years of professional service to the medical laboratories of the Northeast.

Every Veterans Day holds a special significance for Professor Anderson Giles, a University of Maine at Presque Isle art professor who has worked for more than two decades to preserve – through film, photographs, paintings and other collections – the history of World War II in the Pacific.

For Giles, Veterans Day is not only a time to honor all military veterans, but also an important reminder that the nation’s WWII veterans are quickly passing away and that time is running out for him to preserve the memories of those who lived through those terrible times more than 60 years ago.

In the face of this challenge, Giles has worked doubly hard to document their experiences and share their stories with people around the world. This year, he was awarded a University of Maine System Trustee Professorship, which has allowed him to complete a significant amount of documentation and research.

Giles was able to take a spring sabbatical and share his research by lecturing on three different Pacific cruises that visited many of the islands associated with WWII in the Pacific. Giles offered lectures on everything from Guadalcanal and the Battle of Iwo Jima to the conquest of Guam, Saipan and Tinian aboard the Cruise West: Legends of the Pacific, Cruise West: Pearls of Polynesia, and the Princess Cruise: World Cruise on the Pacific Princess (South Pacific portion) voyages.

A geology professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and his research partners in China and Japan recently received word that they have been awarded a 560,000 Chinese yuan grant (about $80,000 in U.S. funds) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China for a three-year project.
Dr. Chunzeng Wang, along with research partners Dr. Xiaofeng Li of the Institute of Mineral Resources of China National Academy of Geosciences, and Dr. Watanabe Yasushi of the Institute of Geo-Resources and Environment of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan, will use the funding to continue research into mineralization processes for several important copper and gold deposits in south China.