The Disposal Mode Of Maine’S Waste Governance, Travis Blackmer, Brieanne Berry, Michael Haedicke, Cindy Isenhour, Susanne Lee, Jean Macrae, Deborah Saber, Erin Victor

Maine Policy Review

Maine’s materials management system is stuck in a disposal mode of waste governance. Despite significant investments in programs and policies designed to reduce the amount of waste the state buries each year, recent shocks and uncertainties have resulted in increased waste generation and disposal. This paper analyzes specific ways through which materials management in Maine has become locked in to a disposal mode of waste governance. We build a framework to help understand various forms of lock-in and how they might be unlocked. This framework is applied to the extended producer responsibility packaging law that is presently under the rule-making …

Landings, Vol. 31, No. 7, Maine Lobstermen’S Community Alliance, Kirk Moore, Amber-Jean Nickel, Marianne Lacroix, Kevin Kelley, Melissa Waterman

Landings: News & Views from Maine's Lobstering Community

Landings content emphasizes science, history, resource sustainability, economic development, and human interest stories related to Maine's lobster industry. The newsletter emphasizes lobstering as a traditional, majority-European American lifeway with an economic and social heritage unique to the coast of Maine. The publication focuses how ongoing research to engage in sustainable, non-harmful, and non-wasteful commercial fishing practices benefit both the fishery and Maine's coastal legacy.

For more information, please visit the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance (MLCA) website.

Aquaculture Research Institute Newsletter, June 22, 2023, Aquaculture Research Institute

General University of Maine Publications

The Aquaculture Research Institute is buzzing with activity, as summer descends on the coast of Maine. From our undergraduate externs exploring the aquaculture workforce to our new fellows working to integrate Indigenous and Western Science through applied aquaculture research, the institute is a hub of education and discovery. We look forward to a busy and exciting summer at ARI with this group of passionate and curious students.

Save Maine Lobstermen Website, June 2023, Maine Lobstermen's Association, Sutherland Weston

History of Maine Fisheries

Screen capture of the #SaveMaineLobstermen website created on June 2, 2023. The screen capture includes the web pages: "The Issue," "The Solution," "Join the Fight," "In Court," "Shop to Support," and "Contact." The website was created in reaction to the 2021 call by the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) "ten-year whale plan that requires the Maine lobster fishery to reduce its already minimal risk to right whales by 98 percent."

This document includes all material available through the website on June 2, 2023, regarding the September 2021 lawsuit filed by the Maine Lobstermen's Association (MLA) challenging the 10-year whale plan. …

Landings, Vol. 31, No. 6, Maine Lobstermen’S Community Alliance, Melissa Waterman, Amber-Jean Nickel, Patrick Keliher, Kevin Kelley, Jeff Putnam, Craig Idlebrook

Landings: News & Views from Maine's Lobstering Community

Landings content emphasizes science, history, resource sustainability, economic development, and human interest stories related to Maine's lobster industry. The newsletter emphasizes lobstering as a traditional, majority-European American lifeway with an economic and social heritage unique to the coast of Maine. The publication focuses how ongoing research to engage in sustainable, non-harmful, and non-wasteful commercial fishing practices benefit both the fishery and Maine's coastal legacy.

For more information, please visit the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance (MLCA) website.

The Effects Of Peers For Young Adults On Anxiety And Quality Of Life For Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alysha Cecile Dagg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social skills deficits as well as comorbid anxiety are two characteristics commonly experienced by people with Autism Spectrum Disorder - Level 1 (ASD-1; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These characteristics are also both contributors to a lower quality of life for young adults (Smith et al., 2019). The current study aimed to identify how the quality of life and anxiety are affected by social skills intervention, specifically the PEERS® for Young Adults program (Laugeson, 2017). PEERS® for Young Adults is an evidence-based social skills intervention intended to support individuals with ASD-1 (Laugeson, 2017). Prior research has demonstrated its success in both …

A Social And Ecological Approach To Mosquito Species Distribution Across Land Use In Bangor, Maine, Megan L. Schierer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mosquitoes are ubiquitous pests and infectious disease vectors. However, not all mosquito species bite humans, or are competent pathogen vectors between bloodmeal hosts. Along with climatic variables like temperature and rainfall, mosquito species distribution is determined by aquatic habitat availability for juvenile mosquito development, and terrestrial habitat and host availability for adult mosquitoes. There is variation in the preferred aquatic habitat for gravid female oviposition and subsequent larval development. Some mosquito species’ oviposition and development are associated with ephemeral water sources (e.g., floodplains), others prefer more permanent water sources (e.g., bogs or vernal pools). Other mosquitoes have evolved to occupy …

S8e10: How Can Nature-Inspired Engineering Improve Human Health?, Ron Lisnet, Caitlin Howell

The Maine Question

Antibiotic resistance has become a growing problem in the treatment of bacterial infections. In addition to minimizing or negating the effects of existing medicine, these antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or “superbugs,” are mutating faster than the development of new remedies.

Caitlin Howell, University of Maine associate professor of biomedical engineering, is working on new tools that take notes from nature to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Similar to the way in which the human body keeps balance with its own bacterial populations, Howell’s devices use nontoxic, non-invasive surface-based technology to trap bacteria and prevent them from spreading.

In this episode of “The Maine Question” …

The Relationship Between Bipolar Disorder And Epilepsy: Challenging The Dichotomy Of Mental And Physical Health, Mia A. Dawbin

Psychology and Community Studies | Student Scholarship

Abstract

The body of literature associating epilepsy with mood disorders is vast and can be traced as far back as Hippocrates. The comorbidity of the two is notoriously high. The prevalence of depressive symptoms among people with epilepsy has been widely reported for decades, though these symptoms may not be considered or treated as successfully in people with epilepsy as they are in their non-epileptic counterparts. More recently, evidence has been found suggesting that psychiatric symptoms may serve as a precursor to epilepsy. The episodic nature of the illnesses and their congruent model of progression suggest a possible connection. The …

Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities (Idd) As Role Models To Youth With Idd, Abbott Philson

Poster Presentations

This research project was to understand peer mentoring with people with disabilities.There are not a lot of opportunities for formal peer mentoring for youth with disabilities in Maine.

Mind The Gap! Advancing Data Equity To Improve Population Health Equity For People With Disabilities, Michelle Fong

Poster Presentations

The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), Maine’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability (UCEDD), carries out a variety of education and research activities designed to improve the social and health equity of people with disabilities (PWD). CCIDS sought to examine the health equity of Maine’s population with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities (IDD/NDD) regarding Covid-19. However, we encountered a data gap. Therefore, we examined the drivers of data gaps for people with disabilities to make recommendations for improving their health equity by ensuring their representation in public health data, the evidence base for policymaking.

Promoting Mental Health In Schools, Ashley Mulkern

Poster Presentations

About 1 in 7 U.S. children aged 2-8 have a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder reported by a parent. The Maine CDC's Pediatric Mental Health Care Access Grant provides behavioral health consultation to pediatric primary care providers and training and support to schools by strengthening policies and programs in school mental health.

Landings, Vol. 31, No. 5, Maine Lobstermen’S Community Alliance, Melissa Waterman, Kevin Kelley, Amber-Jean Nickel, Jeff Kart, Patrice Mccarron

Landings: News & Views from Maine's Lobstering Community

Landings content emphasizes science, history, resource sustainability, economic development, and human interest stories related to Maine's lobster industry. The newsletter emphasizes lobstering as a traditional, majority-European American lifeway with an economic and social heritage unique to the coast of Maine. The publication focuses how ongoing research to engage in sustainable, non-harmful, and non-wasteful commercial fishing practices benefit both the fishery and Maine's coastal legacy.

For more information, please visit the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance (MLCA) website.

S8e9: What’S The Music Scene Like At Umaine?, Ron Lisnet, Francis Vogt

The Maine Question

The University of Maine is home to 18 formal vocal and instrumental ensembles and many informal musical groups, each one with a distinct sound that enriches the academic and cultural life on campus. Many of these groups welcome students of all majors and community members. These performers tour Maine, New England and beyond, promoting the artistic offerings of the university with their voices and instruments.

In this episode of “The Maine Question,” Francis Vogt, director of choral programs and two student performers, will discuss what the music scene is like at UMaine.

Ums Name Usage Policy, Ums Associate Vice Chancellor For Student Success And Credential Attainment

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

On May 8, 2023, Vice Chancellor Rosa Redonnett announced the final revisions to the updated UMS Name Usage Policy and FAQs. The policy was revised to minimize barriers, which includes student entry of a preferred/chosen name being available as a simple self-service option in MaineStreet, and a one-time fee waiver the first time a new campus ID card is requested with a preferred/chosen name.

S8e8: How Will Ai Impact Our Lives?, Ron Lisnet, Salimeh Sekeh, Vikas Dhiman

The Maine Question

Artificial intelligence, or “AI,” is a hot topic in 2023. AI and machine learning make headlines every day, with stories ranging from the technology’s helpful capabilities, like self-driving cars, to its scariest potential — think “deep fake” videos fooling the public, or human workers being made obsolete by tools like ChatGPT.

At the University of Maine, AI is central to research and classroom activities across disciplines, from forestry and farming to sensors and satellites.

In this episode, we speak with two UMaine researchers who are at the forefront of AI research. Salimeh Sekeh is an assistant professor of computer science …

Mind The Gap: A White Paper On Maine's Missing Covid-19 Surveillance Data, How They Perpetuate Health Disparities Of Maine's Citizens With Disabilities, And What Can Be Done To Increase Maine's Public Health Data & Service Equity, Michelle Fong

Student and Trainee Scholarship

A white paper by Michelle Fong, a 2023 NH-ME Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) trainee and MPH student at the University of New England. Equitable health data represents all populations and can be linked to their common characteristics. Maine’s COVID-19 data can be disaggregated by gender, race, ethnicity, and age, but not by disability status or type. It is an example of inequity in data collection, or a data gap, that prevents analysis of pandemic health outcomes for Mainers with disabilities.

Thinking And Designing Beyond The Jig-Seating Reimagined, Lily Watson

Poster Presentations

Most chairs aren’t designed to serve human bodies. Enter, the impaired body, not simply as a source for treatment and revision but as a challenge to standard design. This poster presents an innovative chair redesign project. The effort was intended to enhance comfort and functionality as well as aesthetics of seating in public spaces.

Aquaculture Research Institute Newsletter, April 14, 2023, Aquaculture Research Institute

General University of Maine Publications

As the days grow longer and warmer weather approaches, spring has officially sprung in Maine. The sound of peepers heralds the changing season with their distinct croaks, while ctenophores comb through the waters of the Damariscotta. At the DMC, we’re eagerly anticipating a lively summer ahead! We’re thrilled to announce a few exciting opportunities for anyone interested in different aspects of aquaculture.

S8e7: How Can Indigenous And Western Knowledge Help Preserve The Planet?, Ron Lisnet, Darren Ranco

The Maine Question

Darren Ranco has spent his life determining how to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous people protect the land they inhabit.

Through his work as an anthropologist and chair of Native American Programs at the University of Maine, Ranco has studied tribal sovereignty, cultural resource protection, environmental justice and ways Native American communities can resist environmental destruction. As a member of the Penobscot Nation, he also is passionate about improving research relationships between universities and indigenous communities, as well as training the next generation of Indigenous scientists.

In this episode of “The Maine Question,” Ranco discusses his many research projects and how …

“Defunding” Race In Field Supervision Contexts: Deconstructing And Responding To White Preservice Teachers’ Majoritarian Narratives, Kimberly Oamek

Journal of Educational Supervision

Teachers must robustly understand how race and racism operate both in and out of the classroom to structure inequity. However, the existence of a deeply entrenched majoritarian mindset remains a principal obstacle to preparing such teachers. In this empirical paper, the author draws on the critical race theory construct of “majoritarian storytelling” (Delgado, 1989) to make visible and examine the narratives told by white preservice teachers upon completion of their preparation programs. The author finds that white preservice teachers’ explanations for racially disparate school outcomes align closely with a majoritarian mindset and employ devices characteristic of longstanding majoritarian stories. After …

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Idea) Workforce Shortage, 2022-2023 Cohort Of New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education In Neurodevelopmental And Related Disabilities (Nh-Me Lend) Program Trainees

Policy Analysis

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), our nation’s special education law, ensures special education and related services to children with disabilities. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) was created in 1975 to ensure that children with disabilities are able to access free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). This act was reauthorized as IDEA in 1990. One in every seven students in the United States receives special education services through the IDEA, requiring a large, highly qualified special education workforce to support students’ rights to FAPE. Highly qualified personnel provide specialized …

Artificial Intelligence In Social Work Practice, Cat Sabourin

Poster Presentations

Although present in organizational contexts and potentially complimentary to professional outcomes, intelligent tools have not been widely embraced by social work. A growing literature has recognized the ubiquity of artificial intelligence and thus the critical need for social work to integrate these tools throughout the diversity of professional practice. Integrating disability studies, social work, and artificial intelligence methods, this poster presents the benefits of using AI in social work, and then illustrates, and evaluates a model of practice using extant data in which an intelligent AI robotic companion is used to further amplify social work intervention.

Landings, Vol. 31, No. 4, Maine Lobstermen’S Community Alliance, Patrice Mccarron, Melissa Waterman, Nick Battist, Kristan Porter, Kevin Kelley

Landings: News & Views from Maine's Lobstering Community

Landings content emphasizes science, history, resource sustainability, economic development, and human interest stories related to Maine's lobster industry. The newsletter emphasizes lobstering as a traditional, majority-European American lifeway with an economic and social heritage unique to the coast of Maine. The publication focuses how ongoing research to engage in sustainable, non-harmful, and non-wasteful commercial fishing practices benefit both the fishery and Maine's coastal legacy.

For more information, please visit the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance (MLCA) website.

Mutual Aid: A Community-Led Solution To Economic Hardships At The University Of Maine, Tamra Benson

Honors College

Economic inequality and hardships are common issues on college campuses, for both students and employees. Mutual aid is the act of giving and receiving aid within a community where those who have extra resources may give to those who lack them, to build community care and resilience in the face of hardships. Many college campuses have established mutual aid funds to provide a safety net for those who are left behind by standard assistance programs. These funds can have several structures, so conducting research is essential before deciding on a model. The goal of this project was to design a …

Stratigraphic Architecture Of Pozuelo Mounds As Revealed By Earth Resistivity Tomography, Caeli Connolly

Honors College

This study is a geoarchaeological analysis using earth resistance tomography (ERT) surveys of two of four mounds at Pozuelo (Formative Period, cal yr 3000 BP) in the Chincha Valley of coastal, southern Peru. Layers identified in the subsurface were to determine the presence or absence of regional continuity between the mounds. This effort is part of a larger investigation examining the paleoenvironmental setting of the site, and its influence on site location and use. Ten earth resistance tomography profiles were collected using an ABEM Terrameter LS2 and 81 pin array. These profiles were then topographically corrected using topographic survey data …

Office For Diversity And Inclusion Newsletters, Spring 2023, Anila Karunakar, Office Of Diversity And Inclusion

Social Justice: Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

A compilation of Spring 2023 weekly, email newsletters from the Office for Diversity and Inclusion.

High Automation, Fascism, And Our Social Revolution, Sean C. Staton

Honors College

The United States in the present day has experienced a rise of both incredibly productive automated technologies, approaching self-perpetuation, and fascism, entering and affecting significant social institutions. This paper aims to explain these phenomenon with the Marxist mechanics of the historical dialectic, conceptions of abstraction and material, and the behavior of capital – among other modes of production – and predict the broader development that is oncoming. It has been found that the rise of advanced and self-perpetuating automating technologies is indicative of an oncoming mode of production, ‘high automation’, and that fascism itself is a character, or subdialectical stage, …

Citizen Perceptions Of The Sustainability Of Marine Aquaculture, Bruce Wyatt

Honors College

As the world confronts the need for sustainable food systems, marine aquaculture serves as a key opportunity to produce safe, sustainable seafood. However, marine aquaculture still faces social resistance to its adoption with environmental and economic concerns leading to citizen and consumer hesitations regarding the industry and its products. In this study, we explore factors that lead to a citizen holding primarily positive or negative views of marine aquaculture with a focus on whether these views are driven by environmental or economic perceptions. Using a survey of Maine coastal residents (n=295), we find that individuals whose use of the Maine …

What Makes A Good Stage Manager, Laura Garfein

Honors College

The stage manager plays a vital role in the creation of theater performances; they are responsible for ensuring the smooth execution of a show from beginning to end. They are in charge of facilitating communication between all departments, running the technical elements once the show starts, and keeping information organized throughout the entire process. There are several resources that lay out the simple job description and requirements of this role, yet few discuss specific traits that distinguish the best stage managers. Those that do endeavor to go beyond a simple job description come from only the perspective of the stage …