New this fall: Construction Institute (funding available)
SMCC is offering a new program this fall that provides Mainers a flexible pathway to learn vital skills to start or advance their careers in the construction industry.
SMCC’s Construction Institute launches this fall with five short-study courses that are offered in the late afternoon and early evening. The Maine Quality Centers is providing grant funding for the Construction Institute to the first 16 qualified Maine residents.
Construction Institute was developed in collaboration with members of Maine’s construction industry to provide training that is essential to the industry.
The program allows students to grow their skill sets and advance their careers without having to complete an entire degree program. As an added benefit, students can apply the classes toward a degree or certificate in Construction Technology should they choose, giving them the option to further their education even more in the future.
The five courses offered this fall are Building Concepts, Tool Safety, Construction Safety, Print Reading and Framing Methods. Upon completion, students will receive a certificate of readiness and attend a job fair where they will be connected with employers in search of employees with skills learned in the program.
For students seeking a certificate in Construction Technology, SMCC also offers a 24-credit one-year certificate that provides technical and hands-on experience and prepares people for a career in the construction industry. Students completing the program receive an Academic Construction Certificate.
For students seeking a college degree, SMCC offers a two-year associate degree in Construction Technology. Students may now enroll in the program for the Fall Semester.
More information is available is available on the SMCC website.
Students researching lobsters, fruit flies, alewives
More than a dozen SMCC students are learning about lobsters, fruit flies, oysters and more during summer internships and fellowships.
Seven Marine Science students are learning about marine life during summer internships, according to Brian Tarbox, marine science instructor.
- Theodore Bishop is working with SMCC Marine Science alumnus Nick Marquis at Bigelow Labs for Ocean Science studying oyster parasites along the Maine coast.
- Megan Greenwood is working at the University of New England doing three-dimensional mapping of lobster carapaces, the shells that cover the backs of lobsters.
- Chris Mullen and Abraham Leel are working at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute monitoring fish populations in Casco Bay.
- Crystal Stewart is working with a professor from St. Joseph’s College of Maine investigating new ways to acclimate brown trout to sea water, while also comparing tunicate (also known as sea squirts) fouling on various colors of lobster traps.
- Emily Haggett is working with Friends of Casco Bay, an organization devoted to the environmental health of Casco Bay.
- And Isabelle Russell is working with a researcher from the University of Southern Maine monitoring alewives on the Presumpscot River.
In addition, another seven students are taking part in fellowships across Maine, says Biotechnology Adjunct Professor Elizabeth Ehrenfeld. The first six are funded through an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institutes of Health. The seventh is funded from a National Science Foundation grant.
- Nursing student Taysier Elshaikh is working at Maine Medical Research Institute developing 3D tissue-engineered bone and cancer models.
- Biotechnology student Cameron Fudge is at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory working on gene regulation of limb regeneration in zebra fish.
- Biotech student John Onesti is at MMCRI in support of a disease program specializing in mosquito and arthropod collection and identification.
- Liberal Studies-Science student Emily Torrey is at Bowdoin College researching the lobster’s nervous system.
- Liberal Studies-Science student Samantha White is at MDIBL researching scar tissue in salamanders.
- Biotechnology student Carla Woodward is at Bates College researching genetics in birds.
- Biotechnology student Suzanne Martin is at Bowdoin researching gene regulation in fruit flies.
Photo: Crystal Stewart and Theodore Bishop are among SMCC’s science students who are performing hands-on scientific research this summer.
Spring Point Lighthouse to celebrate 120 years
The Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse will be celebrated in recognition of its 120th birthday, its 30 years on the National Historic Register and recent renovations that will preserve it into the future.
The Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse Trust is hosting an event at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 29, on the knoll overlooking the lighthouse. After the morning festivities, the lighthouse will be open for tours until 3 p.m.
The keynote speaker will be Earle Shettleworth, the Maine State Historian who certified the lighthouse for inclusion on the National Historic Register. Plaques will be awarded to founders and emeritus trustees, lighthouse volunteers, contributors to the renovation project and to SMCC students, faculty and administration for the new lighthouse welcome center and gift shop that was built by SMCC Construction Technology students.
Light refreshments will be available all day, and free gifts will be given to the first 120 people to buy tickets ($5 per person) for a lighthouse tour.
The lighthouse recently underwent a $70,000 renovation project that resulted in new windows and weatherization to help preserve the structure.
Photo: SMCC Construction Technology students this past year built the new “keeper’s cottage” building, which was donated to the Spring Point Ledge Lighthouse Trust to be used as a welcome center and gift shop.