More than 100 Unity College undergraduate students unveiled research presentations from timber harvesting best practices to how to write a business plan in the annual Student Conference.

The event, May 4 at the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts, provides an annual forum for undergraduate students to exhibit research projects in a wide area of academic disciplines and compete for excellence awards in several categories. Works are judged by college faculty, staff, and community partners.

Associate Professor of Geoscience Dr. Kevin Spigel coordinated the event with the assistance of Dr. Amy Arnett and a host of other conference committee members.

Goals of the Student Conference are to encourage, promote, and recognize all quality academic and professional work among Unity College students; to celebrate excellence; to help build a campus culture that values attention to detail and quality work; to provide a transitional experience into professional and academic communities; and to facilitate program evaluation and community building.

“The types of projects we see at the Student Conference represent graduate-level work in terms of both rigor and presentation,” said Unity College President Dr. Steven Mulkey. “Students presenters, many of whom are not graduating seniors, show they are ready and able to become America’s next generation of environmental leaders.”

The awards are:

  • Unity Award ($250) to Alexander Nicolato, Cathrine Vogel, Michael Robinson, and Samantha Adamczyk for their poster presentation, Analyzing Input and Flow Patterns Into Merrymeeting Bay Using GIS.
  • Unity Partnership Award ($250) to Jonah Gula, for his oral presentation, Black Bear Spatial Use in Two Populations in Maine.
  • The Conservation Award ($100) to Richard Lee, for his poster presentation, Predicting the presence/absence of American eels (Aguilla Rostrata) based on stream characteristics and assemblage structure in tributaries of the Delaware River, Pennsylvania.
  • The Creativity Award ($100) to Sarah Linneken, for her video presentation, Adaptive Earth.
  • The Education Award ($100) to Robert Devigili, for his oral presentation, Multiculturalism and Education.
  • Sustainability Award ($100) to Jeffery Davidson, for his multimedia presentation, Beneficial Worms:  A Look into the Science and Business of Vermicomposting.
  • Environmental Professionals Award ($100) to Joseph Asta-Ferrero, Benjamin Gardner, Brian Eaton, Chelsea Thomson, Courtney Dotterweich, Erin Hogan, Hailey Glasko, Jacob Maione, Jalen Babin, James Kirk, Jared Meyer, Jeffery Davidson, Jesse Samdahl, John Gallagher, Jonathan Fuller, Joseph Feeley, Joshua Goldowsky, Kevin Miller, Madison Crane, Marc Glaude, Mathias Hellner, Neil D’Acierno, Nicole Viveiros, Phillip Horner, Richard Lee, Shalonda Bradley and Shaun Wallace, for their multimedia presentation, Community Outreach Projects – Spring 2015 Administration and Organization.

For information about the Student Conference including faculty sponsorship, submission terms, format requirements and past conference highlights, visit the student conference blog. For more information about the Unity College Undergraduate Research Program, click here. For a list of past winners, visit the Unity College Student Conference blog here.

Monday, May 11, 2015