FARMINGTON - The University of Maine at Farmington's 2008 Harvey Aft Award for Excellence in Chemistry was recently awarded to UMF junior Christopher Durkin, a biology major from Brunswick. Durkin received the honor and a monetary award totaling $2,900 at the University's Michael D. Wilson Symposium this spring where he and a collegue co-author presented their research project on pasteurization resistance in E. coli.

The award is an annual monetary prize given to a UMF student who has excelled in upper-level chemistry courses, has outstanding general scholarship, has demonstrated interest in chemistry, projects a positive attitude toward the field, among the criteria set by the UMF chemistry faculty.

It was established in 1996 with a gift from UMF professor emeritus Harvey Aft.

Durkin said he chose to attend UMF because of its small class sizes and reputation for strong faculty-student mentoring connections. He has been awarded a research internship, both last summer and this, at the stem cell laboratory at Mount Desert Island Biological Lab, and was encouraged to apply for by Terry Morocco, UMF associate professor of chemistry.

"During my time at UMF, my professors have taken the time to get to know me and look into any research or pre-professional opportunities that might be available for me," Durkin said.

In addition, Morocco assisted Durkin in finding scholarships that would provide a weekly stipend and expenses while completing his internship.

While at UMF, Durkin has been involved with both the tennis and honors clubs, and has worked as a supplemental instructor in human anatomy and physiology. He has also taken advantage of many of the University's travel opportunities, including visiting the island of St. John in May 2007 for a tropical island ecology course, journeying in Italy on February break 2008, and taking part this spring in a photojournalism course that will travel to England and Spain.

The Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit, marine research institution in the village of Salisbury Cove. Year-round and seasonal research is conducted in the areas of marine biomedicine and physiology, marine molecular biology and functional genomics, bioinformatics, environmental toxicology and toxicogenomics, transgenic species, and neuroscience.

Photo Caption: The University of Maine at Farmington's 2008 Harvey Aft Award for Excellence in Chemistry was recently awarded to UMF junior Christopher Durkin.(Left to right) Terry Morocco, UMF associate professor of chemistry; Durkin; Harvey Aft, UMF professor emeritus; Mariella Passarelli, UMF associate professor of chemistry.