Outstanding Graduating Students

Aiden Pike

College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture | Honors College

Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology

Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry

Minors in Chemistry and French

Aiden Pike of Searsmont, Maine is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture. He is a double major in biochemistry, and molecular and cellular biology, with minors in French and chemistry. The Honors College student, who will receive two bachelor’s degrees, also is in the 4+1 master’s bioinformatics program with the Roux institute at Northeastern University. His numerous academic honors include a Visual and Performing Arts Scholarship, the Professor Frederick H. Radke Award and the Honors INBRE Thesis Fellowships in Comparative Functional Genomics. His honors thesis is: “The Role of Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase IV in Regulating JC Polyomavirus Infection.” Pike has been a student researcher in professor Melissa Maginnis’ laboratory, studying how the immune response is implicated in JC polyomavirus infection and the signaling mechanisms that the virus may take advantage of to gain control of the host cell. He also spent a summer as a research fellow at MDI Biological Laboratory. On campus, Pike has been a teaching assistant and a course facilitator, and a member of the Pride of Maine Black Bear Marching Band and the Concert Band. With the completion of his master’s degree, Pike plans to apply to an M.D./Ph.D. program to study infectious diseases and practice translational medicine.

Elaine Thomas

Maine Business School | Honors College

Bachelor

of Science in

Business Administration in Management with a Minor in Music

Elaine Thomas of Hampden, Maine is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Honors College. She is a business administration major in management with a minor in music. She received the 2022 John M. Rezendes Ethics Award for her first-place essay: “When We Cannot Care for Ourselves: Ethics, Interdependence, and the Moral Danger of the Self-Care Message.” Also in 2022, she received the Maine Campus Compact PILLARS (Philanthropy, Innovation, Learning, Leadership, Action, Responsibility, and Service) Award and participated in the Maine NEW (National Education for Women) Leadership program. Her honors thesis is: “Evidence-based Family Strengthening Training in Maine: A Resource Assessment and Proposal to Reduce Barriers and Increase Facilitators.” Throughout her time at UMaine, Thomas has been a member of the Attachment Theory Team of the Honors College Servant Heart Research Collaborative. She also has interned with three nonprofit organizations: Heart of Maine United Way, Partners for Peace and the American Red Cross, and donates her time to Literacy Volunteers of Bangor. Thomas plans to work for a nonprofit organization in Maine.

Maria Vina Lopez

College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture | Honors College

Bachelor of Science in Biology with Minors in Mathematics and Neuroscience

Maria Vina Lopez of Santiago de Compostela, Spain is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Natural Sciences, Forestry, and Agriculture, and in the Honors College. The biology major with minors in mathematics and neuroscience is the recipient of numerous awards, including the International Presidential Scholarship and a Center for Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Her honors thesis is: “An Organoid Model for Human Brain Aging.” As a student researcher, Vina Lopez studied the drug synergy effect of fluconazole and cyclosporine A on Candida albicans in the laboratory of professor Robert Wheeler, and used C. elegans to study the effect of novel small molecule combinations on age reversal in vivo and identify life span-extending cocktails in professor Suzanne Angeli’s lab. For two summers, she also was a research intern in the microbiology laboratory of professor Darren Higgins at Harvard Medical School, and for eight months last year collaborated on her honors research in the genetics laboratory of professor David Sinclair, also at Harvard Medical School. At UMaine, Vina Lopez has been president of Engineers Without Borders, a resident assistant, a Maine Learning Assistant and peer tutor in genetics, and a member of the University Volunteer Ambulance Corps. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biological and biomedical sciences at Harvard Medical School.

Willow Wind

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences | Honors College

Bachelor of Arts in Communication with Minors in Media Studies and Spanish

Willow Wind of Rumford, Maine is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Honors College student is a communication major with minors in media studies and Spanish. Her academic honors include a McGillicuddy Humanities Center Fellowship and James S. Stevens Outstanding Junior Award, both in 2022, and a 2021 Center for Undergraduate Research Fellowship Award and first-place recognition the Communication and Journalism Showcase for her research project: “Communication Goals and Practices of Trans- and Gender Non-conforming (TGNC) Individuals and Their Impact on Mental Health.” Her honors thesis is: “Conceptualizing and Enacting Gender Euphoria: Exploring Awareness and Action Across Gender Demographics.” Wind has conducted research in collaboration with professor Liliana Herakova, focused on trans and gendernonconforming communication and mental health, and as a research assistant in the Media Psychology Lab of professor Amelia Couture Bue, working on a project exploring the desirability of STEM to college women. She also has been active in the Scholars Strategy Network, Progressive Pipeline, and Partners for Peace, and in a UMaine collaborative effort to improve classroom belonging. Wind plans to pursue nonprofit advocacy work and a master’s degree.