Maine Perspective Front Page
Cutting Edge: University of Maine Research on the Frontiers of Science
The Healing Power of the Forest
An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but how about a walk in the woods? In cooperation with a New Hampshire camp for diabetic children, John Warpeha, a Ph.D. candidate in forest management, is applying the principles of good forestry to the needs of people with chronic illnesses. He hopes his technique will improve healthcare and, in the long-run, reduce medical costs.
For his dissertation, Warpeha wrote and field tested a forestry-based educational program to help insulin-dependent diabetic children accept and understand their own healthcare needs. He received grant support from the Maine Forest Service and the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station.
"I became interested in this topic because my mother is an insulin-dependent diabetic," says Warpeha, who plans to receive his degree in August. "I saw how she struggles with her daily monitoring, trying to cope with ups and downs of her blood sugar. Since I was in forestry, I know there is a system of diabetes camps that have a lot of forest resources that were not being utilized to educate kids about their diabetes management. They all had nature programs but the camps don't look at their forest resources an educational tool."
Warpeha's program consists of three exercises in which children are given information about forest health in a manner that relates to their own illness. They go for walks in the woods and see for themselves how trees struggle with disease. They learn how trees use sugar and energy, how the different parts of a tree function and how foresters monitor the health of the forest community. Each exercise lasts for about 50 minutes.
"Trees are constantly struggling," Warpeha points out. "They are trying to obtain sunlight and nutrients, competing with their neighbors, and trying to adapt to the forest as conditions change. That's a parallel point for chronically ill kids. They're facing diabetes, but they can still contribute to their community. Likewise, a tree always has value to a forest, no matter what age it is or even if it's affected by disease. It can protect itself and go on for a long time."
Warpeha tested his program last August with children at Camp Carefree, a camp for insulin-dependent youngsters in Wolfboro, N.H. He found that after they went through the exercises, they had a significant increase in their understanding of what they must do to manage diabetes through diet, health monitoring and working with healthcare professionals.
"I looked at their forestry knowledge and self-care awareness, their ability to identify and relate conditions in the forest to their own health care attitudes. I didn't find any statistically significant change in their forestry knowledge, but I did find an increase in their self-care awareness," Warpeha says.
Working with the American Diabetes Association, Warpeha will provide his program to diabetes camps and says he would like to expand it to children with other chronic illnesses. He also wants to work with the National Park Service and plans to publish his work in the Journal of Leisure Research.
Warpeha developed his dissertation with assistance from Christopher Murdoch, former director of professional development in forest resources.
Frogs' Inhospitable Habitat
Anne Guerry of Wynnewood, Penn., a master's student in wildlife ecology, has received a three-year nationally competitive graduate research fellowship from NSF to study the relationship between landscape patterns and frogs.
She will use ponds in Aroostook County as her laboratory. Her goal is to determine how changes in land use affect reproduction, movement and other aspects of frog populations.
In particular, she will focus on a problem known as habitat fragmentation. "Inhospitable habitat separates many ponds from the surrounding uplands. This can limit the use of preferred breeding habitat by restricting seasonal migrations of frogs and toads," says Guerry.
The award pays Guerry's educational costs for three years and amounts to $73,500. It includes a stipend for living expenses. Guerry won the award on the basis of her academic record and demonstrated abilities to carry out the research.
Guerry's work may help shed new light on declines in frog and toad populations which have been observed worldwide. She is conducting her research with Malcolm Hunter, Libra Professor of Conservation Biology at UMaine.
A Goldwater Scholar
Sophomore physics major Jason Amsden of Hampden has received the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship in recognition of his outstanding academic record. Amsden was one of 316 recipients chosen from 1,200 nominees nationwide.
Amsden is working with Professor of Physics Charles Hess on two projects related to human health. In one, he is using a technique called gamma spectrometry to measure radioactivity in filters used to remove radon from drinking water. In the other, Amsden is analyzing concentrations of lead in paint.
Amsden is the son of Margarette Fenderson of Hampden and James Amsden of North Carolina. He is also the grandson of Raymond Fogler, the alumnus for whom the Library is named. He is the second UMaine student to win the scholarship.
The first was Benjamin Allen, formerly of Orono, an engineering physics major who won the scholarship in 1996.
The scholarship fund was established by Congress in 1986 to encourage students to pursue careers in math, science and engineering.