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Greenlining: A Policy Response to Environmental Racism
Get PDFRedlining describes the deliberate actions made in the 1930s by the U.S. Government’s Home Owners’ Loan Corporation(HOLC), in which the race of a neighborhood’s residents was used to measure its degree of desirability. This information was produced through maps, which consequently denied these individuals’ access to mortgages and other financial services. Although redlining was outlawed by the 1968 Fair Housing Act and the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the legacy still lingers today. The United States’ Department of Justice launched the Combating Redlining Initiative in 2021, which has since received $107 million in settlements for neighborhoods of color across the country. Furthermore, research has drawn attention to the heightened severity of climate hazards in formerly redlined neighborhoods. This includes increased levels of air pollutants such as NO2 and PM2.5, greater land surface temperatures (LST), higher levels of light pollution, and decreased vegetation. These climate hazards have further magnified health inequities among the people residing in these communities, such as elevated rates of asthma and heat-related illnesses. Modern day consequences of redlining pose threats to the environment, public health, and social equity. Greenlining is a forward-thinking policy effort that originated from the nonprofit organization, The Greenlining Institute. Their mission is to invest in communities of color by advocating for policies that eliminate race as a barrier to success. Observing the environmental and health differences in redlined neighborhoods demonstrates the ways that climate change is disproportionately experienced by communities of color in the United States. With a strong focus on environmental and social justice, this project identifies the need for policy change through the use of greenlining initiatives
Workforce Development Programming for Older Adults: Participant Experiences
Get PDFAs older adults live longer, remain active, and have concerns about financial security, many have chosen to stay in or reenter the workforce. This shift presents an opportunity to leverage the growing aging population to strengthen the workforce and address labor shortages. AmeriCorps Seniors launched the Senior Workforce Development Demonstration Project to explore this unique opportunity. AmeriCorps funded seven workforce development (WFD) programs that provide volunteering and training opportunities, equipping older adults 55+ with skills and experience necessary for permanent employment. The UMaine Center on Aging and the Consortium for Aging Policy Research and Analysis are conducting a three-year mixed-methods study of the seven WFD programs to explore core components that make WFD programs successful. Year 1 findings provide insight into the experience of older adult WFD participants, including their motivations for participating and the benefits gained. Data includes survey responses (N=156) from participants. The primary reason for joining the program, as reported by 55.3% of participants, was earning a stipend or earning extra money” followed by gaining access to employment (53.3%), and learning new skills (50.7%). Respondents overall agreed or strongly agreed that the training prepared them well for their volunteer placements during the program (68.8%) and that the program prepared them well for employment (34.1%). To-date, 22 respondents have completed the program. Early findings demonstrate that WFD programs serve as a pathway for older adults to build skills, contribute to their community, and prepare for employment
LGBTQ+ Maine Timeline (sources included)
Get PDFThis timeline is in no way complete. If you would like to add something to the timeline please reach out to Megan MacGregor ([email protected]) with the event AND a source showing that it happened
How Open Source Digital Repositories Increased Visibility of Coursework Worldwide
Get PDFI started teaching ELE 452 Antennas course for engineering undergraduates in the spring of 2022. As a strong advocate of active learning techniques, I was incorporating antenna simulations using a software called ANSYS-HFSS. HFSS has a lot of moving parts hence I needed a method to make sure the students follow the steps correctly, so I created worksheets with step-by-step instructions. Since I put a lot of time and effort into creating these worksheets, I published those as an open source digital collection via the USM Libraries. Currently, the readership of these worksheets is almost 4000 worldwide.
Backed by this demand, I am creating another digital collection of lightboard videos and few more worksheets for the ELE 351 Electromagnetic Fields course I am teaching. This collection will feature seven light board videos I created introducing the Maxwell’s Equations and their examples and an accompanied Ansys- Maxwell worksheet. The students can watch the lightboard video, download the worksheet and practice the virtual experiment
USM Teaching Symposium 2025_38
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/usm-faculty-teaching-symposium-gallery-2025/1037/thumbnail.jp
USM Teaching Symposium 2025_36
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/usm-faculty-teaching-symposium-gallery-2025/1035/thumbnail.jp
USM Teaching Symposium 2025_32
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/usm-faculty-teaching-symposium-gallery-2025/1031/thumbnail.jp
USM Teaching Symposium 2025_29
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/usm-faculty-teaching-symposium-gallery-2025/1028/thumbnail.jp
USM Teaching Symposium 2025_19
No full texthttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/usm-faculty-teaching-symposium-gallery-2025/1018/thumbnail.jp