Dr. Timothy Ford, University of New England vice president for research and dean of graduate studies, was interviewed for the Feb. 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association for his role in a recent research paper, “Using Satellite Images of Environmental Changes to Predict Infectious Disease Outbreaks.”

The article addresses the potential of earth-monitoring satellite data to help public health officials predict and perhaps minimize the effect of infectious disease outbreaks.  The information may be used to predict outbreaks of cholera, Ebola virus, hantavirus and plague, it states.

Ford also recently co-authored scholarly pieces related to his research on issues concerning water quality and environmental health.

Lauren Bartholomew received a certificate and plaque for winning the geography bee at Saco Middle School.  She now will complete a test and move on to the state bee to be held this spring at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

Eric Martin, a Cheverus High School senior from Lyman, qualified for the Maine Music Educators Association District 2 Honors Jazz Festival.  Students from 13 schools comprising District 2 auditioned for the honor on Jan. 20. The Honors Jazz Festival will be March 1 and 2 at Fryeburg Academy in Fryeburg.

Paige Meserve, a senior from Saco, won the Poetry Out Loud poetry recitation contest Jan. 13 at Thornton Academy with a reading of Adrienne Rich’s “Planetarium.” Christian Letourneau, also a senior from Saco, was the runner-up. Meserve will advance to the regional competition, which will include finalists from 20 southern Maine schools. It will be held 1 to 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at City Theatre in Biddeford and is open to the public. Five students will advance from the region to the state finals, where one student will win an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., to represent the state in the national competition.

Other contestants were Kat Center, Michelle Henaire, Christian Letourneau, Aaron Lockman, Paige Meserve, Leigh-Ashley Milne and Adam Rumery.

Chverus High School students Keturah Smith of Old Orchard Beach and Brittany Boilard, Emily LaVerriere, Jack Terwilliger and Danielle Tourigny of Biddeford recently were inducted into the National Honor Society.

Dean’s list honors

Benjamin J. Lampert of Old Orchard Beach, a mechanical engineering student at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2009 semester.

Molly E. Griffiths, daughter of William Griffiths of Old Orchard Beach, was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2009 semester at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt. Griffiths is a senior psychology major. She graduated from Kennebunk High School.

The following students have been named to the dean’s list at Husson University in Bangor for the fall semester 2009: Jenna M. LeBlanc of Biddeford, a senior clinical psychology major and the daughter of Darlene LeBlanc; Zachary T. Descoteaux of Old Orchard Beach, a first-year physical therapy major and the son of Robert and Susan Descoteaux; Kaylee M. Godan of Old Orchard Beach, a senior physical therapy major and the daughter of Thomas and Dawn Godan; and Gregory M. Foster, of Saco, a first-year physical therapy major and the son of James and Heidi Foster.

Casey Charles Cole and Brad Lawrence Jordan of Saco have been named to the dean’s list for the fall 2009 semester at University of Maine at Machias.

The following students have been named to the fall semester dean’s list at Bryant Univerity in Smithfield, R.I.: Michelle Gagnon of Biddeford, a senior in applied psychology; Jason Scott of Saco, a sophomore majoring in actuarial mathematics; and Zachary Sullivan of Saco, a sophomore majoring in accounting.

The following students were named to the honors list at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine for the fall semester: Travis Adams, Brittany Giroux, Michael Goulet, Jillian Higgins and Rachel Sevigny of Saco; Elaine Durand, Benjamin Garrett, Jennifer McGrath, Katie Scott and Rebecca Seavey of Old Orchard Beach; Benjamin Grant-Roy of Biddeford; and Stephanie Martin of Dayton.

The following students were named to the dean’s list at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine: Stefanie Beaulieu, Michelle Cyr, Hannah Gajewski, Jeffrey Letellier, Andrew Moravick, Elizabeth Rossignol and Rita Turcotte of Biddeford; Monique Bishop, Samuel Butts, Daniel Laskey and Andrew Mockler of Saco; and Courtney Rague of Old Orchard Beach.

The following students have been named to the Southern Maine Community College dean’s list: 

Ian James Adams, Shawn Richard Barry, Byron Drew Belanger, Corinne Michelle Boucher, Mark Lee Bournival, Ryan Patrick Crowley, Jo Anne Downing, Roland Lionel Dubois, Renee Lynn Fecteau, Brittany M. Gagne, Briana M Galiardi, Krystle Theresa Galluzzo, Robert Michael Gardella, Roberta J. Hanson, Nicole M. Hoffman, Nicholas N. Huot, Michelle Lynn Lapointe, Ashley Ann Lester, Sara Kristen Letendre, Cassandra Maegan, Katie Lynne Pease, Sunny H. Pham, Christine Ann Roy, Amanda Lynn Sevigny, Kayla Marie Stone, George A. Tardif, Tarra A. Thibault and Stacey J. Widdecombe of Biddeford; Joseph Atherton, Kara Barstow, Alysia Hirst, James Huff and Amber Phillips of Dayton; Brian Campisi and Bradford Howard of Ocean Park; Joseph Barth, Paul Bernhardt, Nathan Brodien, Apichat Chuenprapa, Sarah Coreau, Ryan Crowley, Darrell Curtiss, Jessica Doe, Ross Dubois, Jill Farley, Dianne Fredette, Justin Gray, John Herbst, Jennifer Hewitt, Thomas Hewitt, Lucas Keyes, Leanne L. Blais, Jennifer Lano, SunHo Lee, Tara McNeal, Matthew Mullen, Sonya O’Tash, Matthew Pagliaro, Renee Watson, Sara Webber, Gillian Wronski and Natasha Zompa of Old Orchard Beach; Todd Burgess, Andrew Cain, Samuel Corriveau, Roger Cross, Jonathan Currier, Thomas DiBiase, Brian Dill, Katie Jo Duran, Michael Foster, Nathaniel Garland, Jaime Gerrish, Scott Glenn, Sean Glidden, Shaheim Griffin, Bradford Hammond, Timothy Harder, Jessica Haynes, Paige Henderson, Jerome Herrick, Jordan Herrick, Eric Howard, Panharath Ing, Catherine Ingraham, Yigit Katkici, Heather League, Jolee Levenson, Tanya Littlejohn, Kathryn Marnix, Elizabeth Marsano, Tim Perry, Ashley Pinard, Kyle Powers, Brittany Roux, Julie Scott, Joshua Smith, Raleigh Stevens, Kate-Lynn Stickney, Jane Stickney, Terri Studtmann, Shawn Trout, Helena Twomey, Kirsten Uhler, Rebecca Washko, Dexter Woodbrey and Tyler Yarborough of Saco.

Max Sherman has been named to the dean’s list at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design in Denver, Colo., where he majors in graphic design and interactive Web design. He is the son of Bonnie Smith and Mark Sherman, and the grandson of Eleanor and the late Robert Smith and Charles and Rita Sherman. He is a 2008 graduate of Old Orchard Beach High School. 

Brittany Sawyer of Saco was named to the dean’s list for the fall 2009 semester at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn.

The following students were named to the fall semester dean’s list at Keene State College in New Hampshire: Caitlin Diane Fecteau, Sean Patrick Fitzgerald, Michelle Elizabeth Nason, Britney Rae Perkins, Marielle Catherine Petrin and Ryan Scott Smith of Biddeford; Hannah Kate Fluet, Joshua Matthew Pulsifer, Jessica Leigh Spellman and Nicole Renee Turgeon of Saco.