Press Herald and Journal Tribune feature visiting Kenyan scholar's interaction with area high school students

The Portland Press Herald and the Journal Tribune on Jan. 12, 2011 covered a visit by Biddeford High School students to UNE to get a global perspective on environmental issues from Fullbright Scholar-in-Residence Helida Oyieke, Ph.D., a Kenyan environmental studies and marine biology scholar. Dr. Oyieke is director of research and scientific affairs at the National Museums of Kenya and an instructor at the University of Nairobi. 

In the Press Herald story Dr. Oyieke noted that most of the visiting Biddeford High students were girls. In Kenya, only about one-third of all girls go to high school because parents must pay for it, she said. Dr. Oyieke said she plans to use her experience in the United States to improve education in Kenya and increase the number of girls that graduate from high school and go on to college.

Dr. Oyieke's interactions this spring with students from Biddeford, Bonny Eagle and other local high schools is made possible through UNE's five-year National Science Foundation SPARTACUS GK12 project, which engages Maine K-12 students and teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-related disciplines. 

The SPARTACUS project places UNE graduate students in marine sciences and biology into six school districts in southern Maine as science resources for teachers.

Jay Williams, a UNE graduate fellow participating in the program, told the Journal Tribune that  before speaking to high school students she was nervous speaking in public. In addition to becoming more comfortable speaking to large audiences, she said she has also learned how to better communicate technical, scientific subjects. Also, said Williams, “It’s really cool to talk to these students and say ‘you can do it’ to them.”

Also quoted in the story were Henrietta List, manager of the SPARTACUS program, and Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, UNECOM, and director of UNE's Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences. More information on Dr. Oyieke.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.