COA student recognized for insight into contamination, botany

College of the Atlantic News

Medeiros to use scholarship award to research lichens at contamination sites

BAR HARBOR, MAINE —  A College of the Atlantic student has received two scholarships for his research on lichens and plants of serpentine outcrops at metal-contaminated sites.

Ian D. Medeiros, a third-year COA student from Rehoboth, Mass., received a $4,000 Barbara D. May Scholarship from the National Garden Club and a $1,000 scholarship from the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts to continue work he began as a student on the Bar Harbor campus under the instruction of Professor of Botany Nishanta Rajakaruna.

During the 8th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology in June in Sabah, Malaysia, Medeiros delivered an oral presentation based on his research, titled “Diversity and Conservation of Lichens at Two Metal-Enriched Sites in Coastal Maine, USA.”

Medeiros also recently secured a summer research position with the Field Museum in Chicago, where he will work on a lichen…

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Fact and fiction in the struggle against addiction

College of the Atlantic News

‘Addiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine’

Doctor turned novelist to lead discussion at Bar Harbor campus   

BAR HARBOR, MAINE — Addiction to opiates is a well-known struggle and a tragic storyline for many in Down East Maine.

Dr. Steven Kassels, M.D., a board certified physician in emergency and addiction medicine, will speak about the topic during a book signing and lecture 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 21 at the Thomas S. Gates Jr. Community Center on the College of the Atlantic campus.

He is author of “Addiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine,” a fast-paced murder mystery and legal thriller set on Mount Desert Island. “An Evening With Dr. Steven Kassels” will include a brief book reading, a short talk and a Q&A followed by a catered reception in Newlin Gardens.

Kassels attended Milton Academy and Lake Forest College and received his Medical Degree from Wayne State University…

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Feldman deciphers chaos for 5,000 students worldwide

College of the Atlantic News

College of the Atlantic professor delivers ‘massive open online course’

BAR HARBOR, Maine — Continuing the school’s tradition of educational innovation, College of the Atlantic Professor of Physics and Mathematics Dr. David Feldman recently completed his — and perhaps Maine’s — first “Massive Open Online Course.”

The eight-week course, “Introduction to Dynamical Systems and Chaos,” drew more than 5,000 students from 90 countries, ages 13 through 80. More than 900 students completed the class, an 18% completion rate — more than three times the average for similar so-called MOOCs, according to a recent University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education study.

The course was offered through Santa Fe Institute’s Complexity Explorer Project, which provides online courses and educational materials in complex-systems science. The class was funded by a grant to the Santa Fe Institute from the John Templeton Foundation and donations from participants. The archived course is available at…

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‘Poetry in the Streets’ at College of the Atlantic

College of the Atlantic News

Book-length poem by Mary-Sherman Willis is part of “Coffee and Conversation”

BAR HARBOR, MAINE — Poetry will percolate in the next in a series of “Coffee and Conversation” programs at College of the Atlantic.

Mary-Sherman Willis, a writer living in Rappahannock County, Va., will join COA Professor of Writing and Literature Candice Stover, 9 to 10 a.m., Tuesday, July 22, for “Poetry in the Streets” at Deering Common Community Center. The program is free and open to the public, part of the dozens of public programs the college offers the Mount Desert Island community and guests.

Willis, who teaches creative writing at George Washington University, holds a degree in science writing from the University of Maryland and an MFA in Poetry from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers in Swannanoa, N.C. Her poems and reviews have appeared in the New Republic, The Plum Review, the Hudson Review…

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Quote of the Day

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Quote of the Day

I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Quote of the Day

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.  Nelson Mandela

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Gotta love good stats

In the three-month period that ended this February, charitable giving rose 3% when compared with the same period last year. This represents the seventh consecutive period of increased giving, according to Chuck Longfield, Blackbaud’s chief scientist and creator of the Blackbaud Index.

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100 thanks to 100 people who have given 100 dollars to COA this fiscal year!

This is my 100th post since starting the COA advancement blog.  How to mark this momentous achievement?  As Brianna Larsen would suggest, how about by saying thanks?

Here’s a “Hats Off” to 100 people who have given $100 to COA this year!

Acadia Corporation . Acadia Cottages .  Acadia Senior College .  Mr. Thomas Adelman .  Ms. Heather Albert-Knopp .  Ms. Jane Alexander . Ms. M. Bernadette Alie .  Mr. Victor Amarilla  . Mr. and Mrs. David Anderson .  Mrs. Diane Anderson .  Mr. Peter Anderson . Ms. Barbara Andrus .  Ms. Leslie Arnson .  Ms. Elizabeth Rousek Ayers . Ms. Sarah Baker .  Bar Harbor Lobster Bakes . .Dr. and Mrs. Robert Beekman . Mr. David Blittersdorf . Rev. Paul Boothby .  Ms. Virginia Brennan .  Mr. and Mrs. Charles Burton, II . Ms. Melinda Casey-Magleby .  Mr. Charles M. Chapin .  Mr. and Mrs. Elliot Cohen .  Bradley Coley .  Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Colson .  Mr. Douglas Coots . Dr. and Mrs. Melville Cote .  Mrs. Rose Cutler .  Ms. E. Nicole D’Avis .  Ms. Norah Davis .  Mr. Steve Demers  . Mr. Robert Dick .  Mr. Scott Dickerson .  Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Donnellon . Mr. Charles Donnelly . Mr. Millard Dority .  Mr. and Mrs. John Dreier .  Mr. George Ehrhardt, Jr.  .  Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Fernald .  Mr. Stephen Finucane .  Ms. Noelle Fischer .  Mr. Thomas Fisher .  Mrs. Margery Forbes .  Dr. and Mrs. Richard Fox .  Ms. Sarah Fraley .  Ms. Susan Freed .  Ms. Ardrianna French McLane .  Mr. Bernard Fuller  .  Furbush-Roberts Printing Co, Inc  .  Ms. Helen Geils . Dr. and Mrs. Donald Glotzer . Ms. Nina Goldman .  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Goodman .  Mr. and Mrs. John Gower .  Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gumpert . Mr. and Mrs. Charles Harwood .  Mr. Edward Haynsworth, III  . Ms. Barbara Hazard .  Ms. Mary Heffernon .  Mr. Eric Henry .  Dr. Josephine Todrank Heth  . Mr. and Mrs. David Hollenbeck .  Ms. Evelyn Mae Hurwich .  Mr. and Mrs. John Imhoff  . Ms. Susan Inches .  Ms. Stacy Jardine .  Ms. Catherine Johnson .   Jonesport Wood Co.  . Ms. Brianne Jordan  .  Ms. Constance Jordan .   Jordan-Fernald .   Ms. Esther Karkal  .  Mr. Nathaniel Keller .  Mrs. Jill Barlow – Kelley .  Mr. and Mrs. Steven Kiel .  Mr. and Mrs. Neil King .  Mr. and Mrs. Ted Koffman .  Dr. and Mrs. Leung Lee .  Ms. Elizabeth Leone Lockard .  Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Libby .  Ms. Jennifer Lief  . Ms. Abigail Littlefield .  Ms. Alice Long .  Dr. John Long, Jr. .  Mr. Hugh MacArthur .  Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Macko .  Mr. and Mrs. John Martin .  Ms. Kathleen Massimini .  Mr. and Mrs. William McDowell .  Dr. Clifton McPherson, III  . Ms. Jeanne McPherson .  Mr. James Merrill  . Mr. and Mrs. Keith Miller .  Mr. and Mrs. Henry Millon .  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Motzkin .  Mr. and Mrs. John Moyer . Ms. Anne Mulholland .  Dr. Victoria Murphy .  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nathane, Jr.  . Mr. and Mrs. Rolando Negoita .  Janneke Seton Neilson .  Ms. Sarah Neilson .  Mr. W. Kent Olson  . Ms. Whitney Wing Oppersdorff  . Mr. Benoni Outerbridge  . Ms. Susan Parker .  Dr. and Mrs. Lewis Patrie .  Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Paul .  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Pennington .  Ms. Frances Pollitt .  Mr. Charles Provonchee .  Ms. Sheila Sonne Pulling .  Ms. Cathy Ramsdell .  .  Mr. and Mrs. L. Keith Reed Mr. and Mrs. John Repp .  Ms. Andrea Rhodes .  Ms. Sydney Roberts Rockefeller .  Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Rogers .  Mr. W. David Rosenmiller .  Alan Rosenquist .  Dr. and Mrs. Richard Rosenthal .  Dr. Stephen Ross .  Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rothstein .  Mr. Michael Rubin .  Mr. Robert Rubin .  Ms. Jodi Sargent .  Ms. Ellen Seh .  Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer Sellers .  Ms. Rolanda Seymour-Sarkis .  Mr. and Mrs. James Shea .  Mr. Richard Simis .  Ms. Amy Sims .  Ms. Harriet Soares .  Sid and Katie Sowder .  Ms. Marie St. John .  Mr. Peter Stevick .  Ms. Dorie Stolley .  Dr. and Mrs. Sidney Strickland .  Mr. Don Taylor .  Mr. Craig TenBroeck .  Dr. and Mrs. T. Michael Toole .  Ms. Elena Tuhy-Walters .  Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Tynan .  Mr. David Van Houten .  Mrs. Wellington Vandeveer .  Mr. Martin Wallen .  Mr. Benjamin Walters .  Mrs. Constance Weeks .  Mr. Donald Weitzman .  Ms. Mary E. Welch .  Ms. Jane Whitney .   Williams Family Foundation .  Ms. Betsy Wisch .  Ms. Carol Woolman .  Mrs. George Young . Mrs. George Young.

Your name not here? This is the $100 list. If you gave more – thank you so much!  If you gave less – thank you so much, every gift counts! If you haven’t given – there’s still time in this fiscal year: http://www.coa.edu/support.

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Quote of the Day

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.  ~Alvin Toffler

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