Maine Envirothon State Finals winners are pictured. Science Explorer Post of Jay took third place. From left are Sam Hutchinson, Lexi Deering, Jacob Roy and Kristy Macomber; absent, Isaac Couture.

Maine Envirothon State Finals winners are pictured. Second were Dirigo High School team members, from left, Tyler Chiasson, Kyle Hutchinson, Ben Dolloff, Anna Chase and adviser Melanie Johnson; absent, Katelyn Rock.

The first-place Maine Envirothon State Finals winners are pictured. Jay High School team members are, from left, Devin Rose, Max Couture, Joe Roy, Kelsey Macomber, Beth Moore, Daydra Loon and adviser Rob Taylor.

Western Maine teams dominate envirothon

ORONO – The Maine Envirothon State Finals were held on May 28 at the University of Maine, sponsored by the Maine Association of Conservation Districts.

Contests consist of field tests in aquatics, soil science, wildlife, forestry, and this year’s issue, boidiversity.

Teams qualified for the state finals by placing in the top three at their respective regional competitions, and 17 teams from across Maine made up the field of competitors.

Teams from Western Maine dominated the competition, as the top three finishing teams were Jay High School, Dirigo High School of Dixfield and Science Explorer Post 897, a team that was also composed of Jay High School students.

The winning team from Jay earned the right to represent Maine at the International Envirothon Competition in Asheville, N.C., Aug. 2 to 8.

Each of the five categories is worth 100 points, for a total of 500.

The winners of the individual stations were as follows: aquatics, Team Boghaunter; forestry, Livermore Falls High School; soils, Jay High School; current issue, Piscataquis Community High School; and wildlife, Dirigo High School.

Explorer Post 897 finished third, with a total score of 298.5. Team members included Sam Hutchinson, Lexi Deering, Jacob Roy, Kristy Macomber and Isaac Couture.

Dirigo High School finished second, with a score of 313.67. Team members included Tyler Chiasson, Kyle Hutchinson, Ben Dolloff, Anna Chase and Katelyn Rock.

Jay High School finished first overall, with a score of 315.67, and team members included Joe Roy, Max Couture, Devin Rose, Kelsey Macomber, Beth Moore and Daydra Loon.

This was the first time teams from Jay and Dirigo finished in the top three at the state envirothon.

Jay High School seniors Joe Roy, Max Couture and Devin Rose have been competing throughout high school, finishing ninth as freshmen, sixth as sophomores, fourth as juniors and first as seniors.

Scholarships were also presented, and Joe Roy was presented the Harold Kimball Scholarship for $2,000 to attend the University of Maine next fall where he will major in wildlife ecology.

The scholarship is given annually by the University of Maine to an envirothon student who has shown outstanding promise in the field of environmental science.

He also recently received a $1,000 scholarship from the Maine Geographic Information System Users Group for his work with geographic information system software and global positioning system units for past envirothon projects.