Scholars’ Symposium
2024 Scholars’ Symposium
Theme: One Health
April 24, 2024
The UMFK Scholars’ Symposium is an annual celebration of student achievement and engagement where students have an opportunity to share their academic research through poster projects and presentations.
More Information About the Scholars’ Symposium
In addition to the student-led sessions, the day is enhanced with presentations by honored guests. This year’s topics are centered around healthcare issues facing Mainers and the United States today. Faculty will also provide updates on their area of focus, and there will be a free lunch for all attendees. Registration required.
This is a terrific opportunity for community members of all ages to interact with UMFK students and learn more from subject-matter experts.
The day’s events will conclude with an awards presentation to honor exemplary student work.
2024 Symposium Schedule
April 23, 2024
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Acadian Archives One Health Challenge | Acadian Archives |
About the Acadian Archives One Health Challenge
Staff, students, and community members are invited to the Acadian Archives to discover archival items relating to the health of the region. Those documents will enable visitors to collect clues, solve a puzzle, and become eligible to win a prize from the Acadian Archives. Anyone can drop by between 4 and 6 p.m. and take the One Health Challenge at their own pace, either individually or with a friend.
April 24, 2024
| Time | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 AM – 8:35 AM | Welcome from President Hedeen | Fox Auditorium |
| 8:35 AM – 8:50 AM | Undergraduate Award Presentations | Fox Auditorium |
| 8:50 AM – 9:00 AM | Introduction to Symposium Theme: Drs. Elmore, Rubert-Nason & Soucy What is “One Health” and how can AI inform it? |
Fox Auditorium |
| 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM | Oral Presentations | Fox Auditorium |
| 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM | Refreshments & Networking | Bengal’s Lair |
| 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM | Keynote Speaker: Dr. Tristan Burgess* (Center for Wildlife Studies) Title: Spillover: How do we REALLY prevent pandemics? |
Fox Auditorium |
| 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Lunch | Nowland Dining Hall |
| 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM | Poster Presentations | UMFK Sports Center |
*Keynote Presentation Abstract
During this presentation, we will briefly discuss some fundamental concepts in disease ecology, a few of the different ways in which zoonotic diseases can be transmitted across species barriers, and the implications for control and surveillance of emerging pandemic pathogens. We will discuss what we have learned about drivers of spillover risk from some past spillover events and some of the major attempts to understand and control spillover. While pandemics and emerging viruses are top of mind for us over the last couple of years, that is not always the case. Each major event usually leads to a new turn of the ‘cycle of panic and neglect,’ where research funding is pumped into the latest cause célèbre at unprecedented levels for a short period, but attention soon moves on – typically before serious, lasting progress is made. Finally, therefore, we will explore some of the emerging threads being woven together in an attempt to create a future where spillover risk truly can be reduced or controlled through examples of current work.