By Nathaniel Trask

The University of Maine’s Emera Astronomy Center has been a big hit since it was opened last October.

“We are doing much better than we used to in the old planetarium,” Scott Mitchell, acting director of the center, said. “Nobody can really ignore us.”

Visitors to the center can learn a great deal about the wonders of space. Programs include displays of well-known constellations and planets as well as the history human space exploration.

Just this past summer, the center hosted parts of the Science Summer Camps, which are organized by the university’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. The center is also the location for all introductory astronomy laboratory courses.

Jordan Planetarium has been outfitted with a wide array of state-of-the-art technology, including a computer system called Digital Sky 2. The picture projects onto an overhead dome ceiling to give audience members the sense of an immersive environment.

“The completely digital system is run off of 10 computers that go to two very large digital projectors,” Mitchell said. “They give is a scientifically accurate, 3-D model of the entire visible universe.”

The Emera Astronomy Center takes the place of the original Jordan Planetarium, which was built in 1954, named after the esteemed professor emeritus of astronomy Maynard F. Jordan. Originally, the planetarium was housed in Wingate Hall where it was run entirely by student volunteers prior to the 1980s.

Longtime director Alan Davenport retired last February after holding the position for 35 years. A group named the “Friends of the Planetarium” hired him along with volunteers to help with the planetarium, according to the center’s website.

After 60 years in Wingate Hall, the Jordan Planetarium moved to its new location at the Emera Astronomy Center. Emera Inc., one of Maine’s largest power companies, made a donation along with a larger, anonymous donation to make the center “the best it could be.” A PlaneWave CDK 20 optical reflecting telescope located near the site was built and is now the most powerful telescope in the state.

Mitchell says they have increased their outreach by publicizing their events on their university website. Currently, there are four different shows on the schedule suited for people of every age level.

“Undiscovered Worlds” will be playing at the center Sept. 18. This show gives viewers the chance to explore the planets that orbit the stars beyond our solar system. A full-dome video will be shown as well as a live presentation given by a staff member detailing constellations and planets that can be seen.

“We have a couple of new shows and we are always developing new content and programs to show people,” Mitchell said.

Plans are being made to offer showings for students, according to Mitchell. Students with a MaineCard can attend an event free of charge on select weekday nights.

The Emera Astronomy Center holds public programs throughout the fall season with showings Fridays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Mainer Abroad Column

By Stephen Roberts

Ottawa is the most diverse city I have ever seen. Nearly every person I pass while walking downtown is speaking a different language: English, French, Arabic and Mandarin are all intermixed with Portuguese, Spanish and occasionally Italian. This is not to mention the countless dialects of English: especially those accents from the sub-continent of India, and the plethora of French accents that range from Outaouais to that spoken in Québec City.

Maine was 95.2 percent “white, alone” at the time of the last census. I read a fascinating statistic yesterday in the local newspaper, The Ottawa Metro, that 1 in 6 Canadians speak French as their mother tongue. One in six Canadians speak a language other than English or French as their mother tongue. Just over 19 percent of the population is a visible minority, and 20.6 percent of the population is considered foreign-born immigrants. according to Statistics Canada. That is astounding, and perhaps even earth-shattering when put next to the touted fact that the State of Maine is the most homogenous state in the United States.

A miniscule 3.4 percent of the Maine population is foreign-born. The Province of Ontario is growing in no small part because of its fresh immigrant faces. The Premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, has challenged the Federal Government to bring an additional 5,000 Syrian immigrants to the province by the end of the year. An article dating back to 2011 and published in LeDevoir, one of the lead newspapers of Montréal, Québec, states matter-of-factly that without immigrants the economy of the region will suffer.  The official stance of the conservative Government of Canada is pro-immigration. The three political parties vying for control of Parliament, equitable to both the presidency and the legislative branch, are all pro-immigration. They acknowledge that, without immigrants, Canada does not have a future.

All of this is in stark contrast to Gov. Paul LePage suggesting earlier this year that immigrants are a threat.

Gov. LePage suggested specifically that undocumented immigrants could bring Ebola and hepatitis C with them to our fair state. A well-regarded former state economist released a report in 2013 stating that we need 60,000 immigrants over the next 20 years to stay economically viable. Our entire region is aware that, if we want to remain relevant, immigrants are a necessity.

We stand at the cusp of failure and success. We need immigrants. The children are not staying, and there are not enough of them. The state should consider the economic and humanitarian aspects of accepting Syrian refugees. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees there are just over 4 million registered refugees. These human beings need more than aid. They need a safe place to go so that they in turn can start businesses, pay taxes and employ other people. More than 11 million Syrians have been displaced by the Syrian Civil War and the affronts by terror groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This humanitarian disaster and its subsequent refugee crisis are  opportunities for the State of Maine to do the right thing while also looking out for our own self-interest.

The State’s motto is “Dirigo” or “I lead.” It is about time we put our money where our mouth is and we show the rest of the country we are not afraid to accept these immigrants.

It was no surprise Chris Roberts would open up his own establishment. The new owner of The Juice Cellar, which sells organic and vegan juices, smoothies and salads at its new Bangor location, has a family history with food.

“My family’s been involved with food since the early 1900s. Even here in downtown Bangor, my great-grandfather had a produce stand in 1912 that he opened,” Roberts said.

For those who have been to The Juice Cellar, it’s a welcome addition to the city of Bangor. The restaurant, which opened in January, rounds out the business landscape of brewpubs and ethnic establishments that dot the streets of downtown.

However, Roberts’ rich family history was disrupted when he lost his mother nine years ago to brain cancer. Between his mother’s passing and his own battle with cyclothymia, which, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a mood disorder with symptoms similar to, but less severe than, bipolar disorder, Roberts knew he had to make a lifestyle change. Quickly, he began evaluating his own dietary choices.

“I really started to take a much harder look at the food that we eat and what kinds of things can cause cancer, what kinds of things we can do for ourselves to help prevent the blossoming of those cancer cells in our bodies,” Roberts said. “I came across raw food, vegan food, and I really started to take a look at my own life, and how I eat and how I felt.”

After making the switch, Roberts soon found himself 70 pounds lighter with a much better mindset and outlook on life.

“Life was really great, and so I decided I wanted to share that with my community,” Roberts said.

Roberts opened the first Juice Cellar in Belfast in 2013, and soon began exploring a Bangor location the following summer. After more than a year of negotiations and careful planning, the Bangor location opened in January, and so far, business has been booming, with more than 100 customers daily, despite this winter’s horrible conditions, Roberts said.

The Bangor location’s winter business has been “not even comparable” to the Belfast location, Roberts said, continually drawing in more than 100 customers daily.

For students in the area, the Juice Cellar’s opening is a significant change to downtown Bangor.

“I think it’s a significant benefit,” Alex Wirth said. Wirth is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Maine, and former employee at Maine Squeeze Smoothie & Juice Café in her hometown of Portland, Maine.

“Our generation is becoming more health-conscious, and the convenience of the location makes healthier choices a lot easier when you spend the day walking around and shopping in Bangor,” Wirth said.

“It’s good food. It’s healthy. You feel good after you eat it,” Michelle Duff, a UMaine senior who studies child development, said as she purchased lunch on an outing with a friend.

“I think that what we’re offering is something that you’d find in your bigger cities like Boston, Washington D.C., New York, all of those. There’s nothing quite like this really outside of Portland that I know of,” Roberts said. “I think it’ll be really cool for students and young professionals.”

And he’s more than happy to welcome some friendly competition. With the opening of Tiller & Rye, an organic and natural food store that also serves juices and smoothies, in Brewer on Tuesday, April 7, Roberts isn’t threatened by the similar business. He’s just happy to see the area grow.

“I’m not going to get ‘Stephen King rich’ off this business,” Roberts said. “I would much rather have a bunch of other businesses like this that are feeding people really healthy food, really vibrant food.”

With high ceilings and murals adorning the walls, natural lighting and the sweet, floral smells of fruits and vegetables being juiced into colorful concoctions, The Juice Cellar certainly embodies vibrancy in both personality and product.

“I would love a juice shop right in downtown Orono that offers an extensive and locally-sourced menu, but baby steps are always better than nothing,” Wirth said.

As of right now, Roberts has no plans to open shop in Orono, but says he is looking to expand his business eventually.

“Never say never,” he said, referring to a move to Orono. “But as of right now, it’s not something that’s in my plan.”

“I’m just excited to be here,” Roberts said. “I just can’t say enough how excited and how happy I am to be able to be a part of this community again, and I’m really looking forward to all the stuff that’s to come.”

What did you do for Spring Break?

Did you go to Cancun, Canada or somewhere in between? Or did you just stay home, wearing out your hard drive watching Netflix, eating pints of ice cream on the daily and sleeping away egregious amounts of precious daylight?

While some of us may have done just that, students in Field Studies in Ecology (EES 475), took the road — or plane — less traveled.

A group of 22 students and three faculty journeyed to the depths of the Peruvian rainforest as they collected data about native wildlife and forest ecosystems.

“We typically bring the course to a tropical region which is known for biodiversity, and so for our students that are interested in studying ecology in general, we want them to pretty much experience ecology in a different system entirely,” Lindsay Seward, instructor of Wildlife Ecology and coordinator of the undergraduate program in Ecology and the Environmental Sciences at the University of Maine, said. “As biologists and ecologists, going to the heart of biodiversity is kind of an exciting thing to do.”

Students in the course were required to go to 7 a.m. meetings every Friday since the beginning of the Spring semester, but only received a taste of what to expect.

Once in Peru, the students were required to complete individual projects relating to their chosen areas of interest.

For Karla Boyd, a third-year wildlife ecology student, her interest was bugs, and there were plenty to be found. Her project focused on light-trapping bugs using plain-white and black lights, and found more diversity of species were attracted to the black light.

Abbey Feuka, another third-year wildlife ecology student wanted to look at how the multilayered structure of the forest affected the ecosystem’s biodiversity.

“I’m interested in those more broader scale ecological concepts,” Feuka said. “I’m interested in how all those layers are interacting, what animals choose what layers, and why it got to be that way in the first place.”

Feuka set out to study leaf size and shape relative to the amount of sunlight. She and her partners set up a sun gradient, looking at where light hits the most and the least on the forest floor. They hypothesized that plants closer to the forest floor would have larger leaves so as to absorb more sunlight.

Their findings? Not much. Contrasting to her hypothesis, the team found many plants close to the ground actually had smaller leaves, boosting the likelihood that these plants were just shade-tolerant species, instead.

But, despite her experiment’s misfortune, Feuka is proud to have had the experience to test in one of the most ecologically active sites in the world.

“Really, the point of the project was to get out and sample in the rainforest, in general, figuring out what problems arise,” Feuka said. “Here, you do a study and there’s always the risk of snow or rain or running into a bear, or something,” she added that the project’s goal was to get into “that mindset of sampling in a different place and designing a research project in such a complex area.”

Amid the research and fieldwork, students did find time to relax, swimming in the Amazon River among the piranhas and pink dolphins.

“The point [of the course] is to go to a place where you’ve never been, and to not only put together your interests with broader concepts, with the people and the human dimensions aspect of working in an area you’re not used to, but it’s also just like, good… it’s just fun,” Boyd said.

“Many of these students have grown up watching elephants and tigers and lions on the Discovery Channel, so the opportunity to experience those directly is pretty riveting,” Malcolm “Mac” Hunter, professor of wildlife ecology and conservation biology, said.

And while there may not have been elephants in Peru, dreams did come true for some students. Boyd, who had only wanted to see one bug while in Peru, a Hercules beetle, was granted her wish during the trip.

“Someone brought me a female [Hercules beetle] on a stick. I was really happy. I took a selfie with it,” she said.

But aside from the fun and the thrills of wanderlust, and perhaps even more than their ecological studies, the true learning moments came from outside the confines of their studies in interacting with an entirely different culture.

“Obviously I learned a lot about tropical biodiversity, tropical systems, plants, animals, ecology, all that,” Feuka said. “It’s awesome. The best way to learn about that stuff is to be there witnessing it, being really sweaty, getting rained on… but also, on the other side,” she added, “It was really cool learning about a different culture.”

“I was really looking at the whole thing like it looked run down,” Boyd said. “I was like, ‘wow this place is really impoverished.’ When I left, I knew that it wasn’t impoverished; that’s just how people live. Those people aren’t necessarily poor, it’s just a different way than we’re used to,” she said. “This is how they want to live. They could change if they wanted, but they don’t.”

“It’s a very transformative experience for them to see [their culture]. Even though they’re poor college students, they make more money than, say, your average Peruvian in the Amazon Basin,” Seward said.

“It really changed my perspective,” Boyd said.

For those who made the journey, seeing simpler ways of life deepened their appreciation for what they already had in the United States.

“You swim on the river, you grow your own food, you go fishing, hunting,” Feuka said. “Here, it’s, ‘I want to hunt because my family hunts, but I can still go to the grocery store and get food if I need it.’”

“These people depend on the river directly,” she said. “There is no grocery store on the Amazon.”

“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard students say words to the effect of, ‘Wow, these people have almost nothing compared to what I’m used to, yet they’re happy,’” Hunter said.

“Life is not all about material wealth, and so that has been a real eye-opener for a lot of students,” Hunter added. “It makes me [feel] good to know that we’ve been able to provide that insight.”

The University of Maine prides itself on its interdisciplinary approach to education. But more often than not, a divide is apparent between the disciplines: Engineers over here, art students over there, with science somewhere in between.

But now, with the efforts of the departments of New Media, Art, Engineering and the Sciences, those distinct lines are beginning to blur.

Thanks to a visit on March 21 from Tony DeRose, Senior Scientist and lead of the Research Group at Pixar Animation Studios, students were treated to an encouraging talk about the importance of interdisciplinary education and research.

“I’m hoping what we get out of it at UMaine is the recognition that interdisciplinary is great and we can all work together, and get inspired by some of the things Pixar has done and have it happen here,” Kate Dickerson, a research associate for the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at UMaine and director of the Maine Science Festival, said.

“He used to be in a campus setting and now he’s at Pixar Animation Studios. It’s just this great story that he’s able to tell,” Dickerson said.

DeRose, whose work primarily deals with creative problem solving using engineering, artistic and scientific models, was the headlining speaker of the Maine Science Festival, a three-day festival in Bangor highlighting the importance of science in everyday situations this past weekend.

“The talk at the Maine Science Festival is really to start to tell the story about how the math and science students are learning in middle school and high school classrooms, for instance, are being used all the time at Pixar for a creative benefit,” DeRose said. “So, really trying to answer the question, ‘When am I even going to need this stuff?’”

Students at the University have found out when they’ll need that “stuff.” Several students presented their interdisciplinary research to DeRose and an executive committee at a luncheon on Friday, March 21.

Jill Pelto, an art and earth science student, was one of them. Her proposed research will integrate art as a model for mapping climate change.

“I’m looking to really integrate the arts and sciences and the work that we’re doing over in the Climate Change Institute on campus, and show the importance of these changing ecosystems and the way that they’re changing in response to climate change, and how you can use art to communicate that and express that,” Pelto said.

Other students are using three-dimensional models to improve the quality of life.

“I’m really integrating the aspects of portability, versatility, and interactivity in furniture design,” Ryan Wahle, a new media student said at the luncheon.

Wahle, who is working on a hexagonal-shaped device that at the touch of a button can transform into either a table or chair, is excited to work with and get feedback from industry professionals like DeRose.

“I think it’s important to definitely get different viewpoints on my project from various professionals in different fields and I think that will be very beneficial in developing this,” Wahle said.

“[This is] a way to tell a story together and research different things together because they bring different perspectives and different ideas, and you get bigger answers that way,” Dickerson said, discussing the importance of interdisciplinary research.

As for DeRose, he is pleased this kind of progress is underway at a university typically off-the-radar of companies like Pixar.

“UMaine isn’t a school we deal with a lot,” he said. “I’m already seeing things that are really sparking a lot of ideas in my mind, particularly around the degree to which maker spaces and multidisciplinary shops are really taking hold around campus. It’s really exciting.”

Places!

The lights dim and Beatles music starts playing through the speakers. The actors stand at attention, ready to take their spots and begin reciting their lines to a near-empty Hauck Auditorium. There are only a few people out in the audience: technical crew, a couple of photographers and guest director Dawn McAndrews.

McAndrews is the producing artistic director at the Theater at Monmouth in Monmouth, Maine. This is her first play in collaboration with the University of Maine School of Performing Arts. And it is no surprise that it’s of Shakespeare’s craft — the Theater at Monmouth is the Shakespearean Theater of Maine. This year, the school is performing the bard’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” a classic tale of love and mistaken identity, and tonight is a crucial dress rehearsal.

For students in the School of Performing Arts, having a director with experience such as McAndrews is an excellent opportunity to get a taste of the theater world outside of the University.

“Theater is a tapestry of theater artists who all contribute in their own unique ways to create novel productions,” Daniel Bilodeau, chair and assistant professor of theatre at UMaine, said.

“I think it is very important for us to expose our students to not only guest directors, but guest designers and guest choreographers as well,” Bilodeau said. “I’ve been working as a designer at the Theater at Monmouth…for a number of years, and thought it would be a good idea to bring in Dawn…to direct the show.”

Looking at the production, one immediately conjures to mind the word “groovy”: Actors clad in bellbottoms and wide-stripe suits in bright colors; actresses in linen headscarves with bold sunglasses and boots galore. Talk about a walk down Abbey Road.

For Bilodeau, who is also the scenic designer for “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” the decision to let the British invade the Hauck stage came easily.

“Shakespeare wrote plays about the human condition. Because of that, his plays can be viewed through a lens of almost any time period,” Bilodeau said. “We settled on late 1960’s London… because of the the great music that came from over there in that era.”

Some of that music can be heard throughout the production. The play features original music from UMaine student Ben McNaboe, which is used in the reading of love letters.

In many ways, this is a unique show for the University and a unique opportunity for its student actors and technical crew. Being the first Shakespeare production in many years, Bilodeau wanted to recreate Shakespeare’s famous Globe Theatre in London.

“I tried to indicate, without creating an exact replica, the same balcony structure as the Globe Theatre,” he said. “Everything from the scenic design to the performance style flows from the language of Shakespeare.”

Perhaps even more unique is the context of collaboration between the University and the Theater at Monmouth. Bilodeau said that this collaboration is just one of hopefully many to come. He and McAndrews have more in mind for the future and would like the School of Performing Arts to be a recruiting ground for the Theatre at Monmouth, Bilodeau said.

“Love’s Labour’s Lost” runs through Feb. 21 in Hauck Auditorium. For more information, contact music@maine.edu or call 207-581-4703.

What makes a band?

For some, it’s big shows with flashing lights, crazy hair and screaming fans. For others, it’s pounding drums and screeching guitars.

But for local Maine band GoldenOak, it’s just about the music.

Comprised of brother and sister Zach and Lena Kendall and their friends Seth Wegner, Peter Coleman and Julian Stearns, GoldenOak is just one of many bands featuring University of Maine students, and is a contender in Maine’s up-and-coming folk scene.

You might have seen them on one of their many stops across the state. They have traveled to Bar Harbor and Rockland, among others, but still see Farmington, Maine as their home base.

With the exception of Stearns — who is from New Jersey — Farmington is where the group grew up, attended Mt. Blue High School and shared their love of both music and nature, a love they share to this day.

“That’s how it kind of all started out, just friends around a fire playing music,” Lena Kendall, who sings and plays assorted percussion in the band, said.

“Seth would bring his cello out, or Zach would have his guitar always, or someone would be like beating a drum on a rock and so it just kind of transgressed from that into more of a band,” she said.

Those literal grassroots are both heard in their music and reflected in their name.

“The naming process has been, well, a process,” Lena Kendall said, explaining how at one point her brother, Zach and Wegner were in their own band named “Walking with Horses” prior to forming GoldenOak.

“I joined the band and I was like, ‘I’m not going to be in a band called Walking with Horses,’” she said.

“We knew we wanted it to be something that kind of revolved around nature or kind of brought up the image of something to do with nature,” Lena Kendall said. “A lot of our songs really portray that connection between humans and nature.”

And so, GoldenOak was born.

More admirable than their connection to nature are their connections to each other. While Lena Kendall and Coleman attend the UMaine, Stearns attends Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, and Wegner and Zach Kendall attend College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. But they don’t let the distance come between them.

“Two of us will travel to the Bangor, Orono area or three of us will travel to the Bar Harbor area and we’ll make a weekend out of it where we play music and go to Acadia,” Lena Kendall said. “It’s just really fun.”

When it comes to challenges in the pursuit of music, the distance is nothing. Instead, it’s getting the word out about their work.

GoldenOak has yet to put out a formal EP, which would greatly boost their chances of being heard. Although the group has made recordings in the past, they weren’t ready to market themselves with lackluster material.

“We didn’t want to put something out there that didn’t sound professional,” Lena Kendall said, describing how the majority of their recordings sounded a little too “garage band” than they would like to market.

Lena Kendall explained the group will begin recording their material professionally at the end of February. They have 10 original songs completed and about five more nearly done, she said.

“I think all of us are looking forward to that process and having something tangible to show for ourselves,” Coleman, who plays electric guitar, said.

For the band, recording their EP marks the next step toward their future.

“I always said that college was my ‘Plan B,’ and I’m just doing that first to have something to fall back on. But music is the ‘Plan A,’” Lena Kendall, who is an elementary education student, said.

“I do love teaching,” she said, “But if the opportunity were to ever arise of something big happening with the music, I couldn’t stop myself from doing that. It’s just what makes me the happiest.”