Michelle Jordan

Michelle Jordan is working with Dr.            Stephanie Burnett and Dr. Jean MacRae 

(College of Engineering) on a research project that will support the work of the UMaine Chapter of Engineers Without Borders.  Michelle will grow plants in waste water in order to select plants that will be appropriate for a constructed wetland to be built in Guatemala.  During the summer of 2008 Michelle, from Lamoine, ME, interned at a private residence in Douglas, Massachusetts. She worked on several projects such as designing and caring for the vegetable gardens, establishing three new colonies of bees, landscaping around the new pool, and tending to the extensive bird collection, including peacocks and rare breeds of ducks and chickens.  One aspect of the internship that she found particularly interesting was getting to know people from many different countries; she was the only intern from the U.S.  She lived with people from the Dominican Republic and Poland and worked with others from Brazil and the Czech Republic.

 Eric Newton

Eric Newton was one of 11 undergraduate students to participate in the first ever Plant Pathology Summer Research Scholars Program at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) in Geneva, New York in summer, 2009.  The program, designed to teach young scholars to plan and conduct experiments, evaluate data, and explain their findings, attracted a wide range of applicants from several different regions and academic disciplines.  The program immerses a select group of students into laboratory and field research.  Scholars were chosen based on their academic recordk, scientific interest, and career goals.  Eric extracted RNA from the herbaceous plant Nicotiana benthamiana in order to study resistance mechanisms to Grapevine fanleaf virus.  Eric enjoyed the diverse group of students in the program.  He lived with roomates from Maryland and Mississippi and also interacted with scientists from Brazil and Bulgaria.

 Meghan McPhee

Meghan is president of our Horticulture Club and involved in various activities in this capacity.  Last fall Meghan was chosen as one of eight student ambassadors from across the country to attend a large Green Industry Conference in Louisville, Kentucky sponsored by PLANET (Professional Landcare Network).  The Jan/Feb 2009 issue of UMaine Today included an article about Meghan’s selection as a PLANET Student Ambassador and her accomplishments in general.  Meghan was extensively  involved in fundraising and studying in preparation for a student trip to another PLANET event, Student Career Days, at California State Polytechnic University, in Pomona, CA in March 2009, which she attended with several other students and faculty members.  Meghan says: “UMaine has given me a lot of opportunities and a lot of exposure that I would have never had.  The department has allowed me to move forward with my dream.”

 Frances Sewell

During summer 2009, Franny completed an internship working on several aspects of lowbush blueberry research.  She sampled soils and plants, photographed plots, harvested berries, learned about tissue culture techniques, helped with pollinating plants, dissected flowers, and performed many other tasks.  She enjoyed the days in the field and the camaraderie and teamwork with other undergraduates as well as graduate students and staff.