The assignment was part of a service-learning project for the L-A College students.

LEWISTON – Nine students from the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College spent 10 weeks recently collecting data on the developing Poland Regional High School nature trail to make a flora and fungi nature guide, including a digital trail map.

They identified trees, shrubs, grasses, ferns, mosses and fungi, and gathered information via satellite that was entered into a database they created.

The students completed the work as part of a service-learning requirement for their environmental science class with Dr. Ike Levine.

“Service-learning integrates service into the students’ course work,” said Rose Fitch, service-learning coordinator at L-A College. Not only does this benefit the community, but it also enhances the learning experience of the students who participate, she said.

She added, “In this case, when completed, the high school will have a geographical information system disk for the school’s future use, and our students will have used state of the art equipment to create a portfolio of their work as part of their final project.”

The students who collectively contributed more than 250 hours of service on the project are Ian Harris, Katie Bunker, Darla Hafford, Rebecca Lebrun, Dora Medouris, Stephanie Dumont, Cyndi Polisky, Dave Chicoine and Amanda Raymond.


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