The Muskie School of Public Service is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Muskie–Maine Graduate & Professional Faculty Fund, a program designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and strengthen ties among faculty across the University of Maine Graduate and Professional Center (Maine Center). The Maine Center includes the Muskie School of Public Service, Maine Law, UM School of Business and Maine College of Engineering & Computing. The Muskie–Maine Graduate & Professional Faculty Fund is made possible through the generosity of a Muskie School Board of Visitors member whose longstanding support and commitment continues to strengthen the mission of the Muskie School.
This year’s funded projects exemplify the Fund’s mission by bringing together faculty from the Maine Center programs to address pressing challenges while enhancing research and instructional capacity.
PFAS in Maine Environments: An Educational and Research Capacity Partnership
Ben Greenfield (Muskie School of Public Service) and Jean MacRae (Maine College of Engineering & Computing)
Drs. Greenfield and MacRae will collaborate on an interdisciplinary project focused on improving understanding and management of per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) in Maine environments. PFAS contamination represents a complex and urgent public health and environmental issue in the state, with implications for water quality, food systems, and regulatory policy.
The project integrates graduate teaching and applied research through the development of student-led case studies, flipped-classroom instructional materials, and a policy-relevant technical research brief. Muskie and engineering students will engage directly with real-world PFAS challenges, while the faculty collaboration will lay the groundwork for future research and policy engagement.
Designing a Multi-Institutional Community of Practice for the Engineering Capstone Project
Carolyn Arcand (Muskie School of Public Service), Ashanthi Maxworth (University of Southern Maine, Engineering/ Maine College of Engineering & Computing), and Wilhelm Friess (Maine College of Engineering & Computing)
This project builds on an existing cross-institutional initiative to strengthen collaboration around Capstone projects at USM and UMaine. Drawing on faculty expertise from engineering and the social sciences, the interdisciplinary team will document lessons learned from their collaborative work and develop a scholarly publication focused on Capstone pedagogy and faculty communities of practice around multi-program and multi-institutional work.
Together, these projects reflect the Muskie-Maine Graduate & Professional Faculty Fund’s commitment to advancing interdisciplinary teaching, impactful research, and durable collaborations across our professional schools. The Muskie School looks forward to sharing project outcomes with the broader university and community in the coming year.