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Senator Susan Collins to speak at UMPI Commencement Exercises

Senator Susan Collins to speak at UMPI Commencement Exercises

President Don Zillman has announced that U.S. Senator Susan M. Collins will deliver the commencement address during the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s 101st Commencement Ceremony, to be held on Saturday, May 15. During this event, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degrees will be presented to Senator Collins as well as the Honorable David Griffiths and Roberta Griffiths, long-time pillars of the Presque Isle and university communities.

“As the University marks this commencement ceremony, we are honored to have an Aroostook County native who has gone on to achieve great things at the national level visit our campus and speak to our graduating class. Senator Collins is a true inspiration for our graduates who are preparing to make their own mark on the world,” President Zillman said. “We are also very pleased to be honoring Senator Collins, and our very own David and Roberta Griffiths for the fine examples they have given us of the importance of serving the people in our community, our state and nation.”

UMPI Professor named Social Worker of the Year

A University of Maine at Presque Isle professor has received a top honor for those in the Social Work field in the State of Maine.

Shirley Rush, Associate Professor of Social Work at UMPI, was named the 2009 Social Worker of the Year by the Maine chapter of the National Association of Social Workers during the organization’s spring conference held at the Samoset Resort in Rockland in April. This is the second time Rush has received the award. She previously was given the award in 2000.

Gelder, Williams receive Discover Life in America grant

Dr. Stuart R. Gelder, Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Ms Bronwyn W. Williams, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada, were just informed that they have been awarded $4,940 from the “Discover Life in America” fund to partially support the first survey of crayfish worms in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP).

According to Gelder, the Appalachian region has the highest concentration of branchiobdellidan species in the world. The study will involve collection and identification of crayfish worms from crayfishes sampled at selected sites across the park. From this information, a species and distribution list will be constructed for the park.

UMPI celebrates 40th annual Earth Day with slate of events

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22, with a day-long schedule of environmentally friendly-themed events, from a morning ceremony at the UMPI wind turbine site to an afternoon tree planting.

Celebrated by countries around the world, Earth Day is a day focused on awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. The first Earth Day was held in 1970.

“Issues around the environment and sustainability efforts have long been important to us at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and we are very pleased to be offering a full day of events in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day,” President Don Zillman said. “This is a time for all of us to reaffirm our commitment to the environment and we invite the community to join us for these Earth Day events.”

Reed Gallery presents Evelyn Kok: A Creative Life

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Fine Art Gallery will present the exhibition Evelyn Kok: A Creative Life from April 18 through May 15, highlighting several works by Presque Isle’s own Evelyn Kok.

Evelyn Kok was raised in Boston, Massachusetts surrounded by creative family members. Her mother studied drawing, her father was a master with a paint brush, her grandfather made a square-sided cello and her great-grandfather made cameras; and Kok grew up observing and absorbing it all.

UMPI Professor to lead Marianas Tour this summer

University of Maine at Presque Isle Professor Anderson Giles has announced an opportunity to visit the Northern Mariana Islands and Palau this August as part of a tour that will mark the 65th anniversary of the Atomic Missions to Japan.

Giles will be leading this tour, which will participate in unique commemoration events on Tinian Island associated with the deployment of the atomic strike missions against Nagasaki and Hiroshima and the end of World War II. The tour will also visit numerous historic, cultural, and scenic sites on the islands of Guam, Saipan, Rota and Palau, Anguar and Pelelieu.

Wood leads workshops in Philadelphia and Newark

Eighty-seven middle school, high school, and college science educators from all over the United States pre-registered for a four-hour Short Course presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Dr. Bonnie Wood, University of Maine at Presque Isle Professor of Biology.

Cormier to receive Distinguished Recent Alumni Award

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Alumni Board of Directors announced this week that an entrepreneur and owner of a local design firm has been named the recipient of its 2010 Distinguished Recent Alumni Award.

Craig Cormier, who serves as the editor-in-chief of Our Maine Street magazine and as the co-owner of design firm c3 creative, will be presented with the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award during the University Day luncheon at Noon on Wednesday, April 14 in the Campus Center.

UMPI receives visits from University of Alberta scholar

The University of Maine at Presque Isle recently received a visit from Bronwyn W. Williams, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, who was in northern Maine to make three presentations on campus and conduct research on crayfish worms with Dr. Stuart Gelder, UMPI Emeritus Professor of Biology.

Singer-songwriter Bearkat to perform at UMPI

Indie folk songwriter and ukulele enthusiast Katy Pearson, otherwise known as Bearkat, will take the stage in Wieden Auditorium on Saturday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m.

Bearkat’s sound has been compared to Feist, Tom Waits and the Ditty Bops. UMPI officials are pleased to be able to bring Pearson – who has been taking the indie folk pop scene by storm with her quirky songwriting, clever arrangements, uncanny instruments and unbelievable vocal style – to campus.

Bearkat’s music is influenced by her love of French culture, her Russian heritage, and her exposure to a plethora of different music at a very early age. Pearson, who is based in Austin, Texas, said this is her third trip to Maine.