Two hundred and thirty-four students graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle during the 2010-2011 academic year. On Saturday, May 14, at 10:30 a.m. during the 2010 Commencement Exercises, the University’s 102nd Commencement, President Donald Zillman conferred degrees upon 136 students who participated in the ceremony held in Wieden Gymnasium.

University of Maine at Presque Isle Education students from the U.S. and Canada recently participated in an international debate about higher education with students from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland.

The hour-long debate, titled Higher Education in the USA, Canada & Poland: Similarities & Differences, was able to happen in real time through the use of teleconferencing technology. The debate, conducted in English, was held during University Day on April 13 and was organized by UMPI’s chapter of the Student Education Association of Maine [SEAM].

University of Maine at Presque Isle Social Work majors gave a presentation during University Day on April 13 about the opportunity they had to meet with their state legislators and learn about how their future careers intersect with state government during a recent trip to Augusta.

Four Social Work majors talked about their trip on March 9 during Social Workers’ Legislative Day at the State House, which included opportunities for current and future social workers to meet their legislators, receive an update on National Association of Social Workers [NASW] Maine Chapter’s legislative advocacy, and take a tour of the State House. The event also included a lobby tracking and a mock hearing in collaboration with the Maine Women’s Lobby.

A University of Maine at Presque Isle Biology Professor will take part in a two and a half month research project at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory after earning a Visiting Scientist Fellowship from the prestigious research institution. Her fellowship is being funded in part by the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence [INBRE] program.

Dr. Rachael Hannah is working at the MDIBL from May 15 to July 31, and will focus her research on creating a central nervous system injury model in the zebra fish to better understand neuron regeneration. Dr. Hannah will work with the researcher Dr. Voot Yin, an expert in limb regeneration, on her project. According to Dr. Hannah, nothing like this has been reported thus far. She explained that using zebra fish for her research will help to answer basic questions regarding what happens to our brains after an injury.

University of Maine at Presque Isle officials are pleased to announce that the UMPI chapter of the Criminal Justice Honor Society has officially been chartered as Chapter Mu Nu.

Dr. Charles Johnson, Alpha Phi Sigma Advisor and Assistant Criminal Justice Professor, comments, “It is indeed a privilege to have a chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma at UMPI for those students who strive to be the ‘best and the brightest’ in the area of criminal justice. There are fewer than 400 Alpha Phi Sigma chapters in the United States, and Mu Nu is the only chapter at a college or university in Maine. This unique opportunity for our criminal justice students is an excellent example of the kind of offerings that UMPI strives to provide for its campus community.”