Page 10 - The BellTower - Spring 2016

FACULTYHIGHLIGHTS ACADEMIC HIGHLIGHTS
Biologist Joins Faculty
Originally from Schwerin, Germany, Dr. Christin Kastl started teaching at UMFK
in the Arts and Sciences Division as assistant profes- sor of biology in September. Before coming to Fort Kent, Kastl taught and conducted research at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
While earning a Ph.D in 2014 at Virginia Tech, Kastl, now 32 years old, conducted research into con- trolling the levels of certain com- pounds in soybean. “We were trying to create a soybean line that has the same growth rate as a regular soy- beans but has lower levels of phytic acid.”
“Phytic acid, when excreted by animals that eat soybean, is harm- ful to the environment. People who consume a lot of soybean products can develop a mineral deficiency as phytic acid binds minerals and thus leads to their excretion,” said Dr. Kastl. Several studies show lowering the phytic acid content in soybean reduces the negative effects to the environment and the consumer, yet also reduces the germination rate of soybean, making those lines unprof- itable to grow for farmers.
Kastl earned a Master of Science in Biomedicine at Hannover Medical School in Germany in 2008. She has taught at her alma mater Virginia Tech, public schools in Virginia, and also at Radford University.
The city of Schwerin is the capi- tal of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern near Hamburg.
Dr. Kastl cross breeding soybean strains (also called hybridizing) for her Ph.D.
Online Marketing Presentation
UMFK Associate Professor of Electronic Commerce Anthony Gauvin attended and pre- sented at the 2015 Community Development Society (CDS) International annual confer- ence and meeting in Lexington, Kentucky.
“Creativity and Culture: Community Development Approaches for Strengthening Health, Environment, Economic Vibrancy, Social Justice and Democracy,” was this year’s theme. Gauvin titled his presentation,
“An Objectives Driven Model for Online Marketing for Rural Small Businesses.”
According to Gauvin, “Small business owners in small towns across rural America have many choices when deciding how and where to market their businesses. In recent years, as broadband penetration in rural America improved, online access offered a new set of online marketing tools for rural businesspersons. Many owners have taken a tool concentric approach to online market- ing; building web pages, social media pages and purchasing online advertising without
a clear understanding of potential impacts and benefits.”
Gauvin said, “A better approach would be to use marketing objectives concentric process where the correct online tool is used based on the desired marketing objec- tives. This research develops an objective
driven model for online marketing that helps the rural business owner select the right online marketing tool to meet their market- ing objectives.”
“Whether they are trying to increase revenue by increasing wallet share from local resident or market share from custom- ers “from away”; the model will help make decisions on the most efficient online mar- keting tool to use and how to measure the tool’s effectiveness in meeting the marketing objective,” said Gauvin.
While at the conference, Gauvin attended workshops on “Creating a Culture of Effective Public Engagement in Local Communities” and “The Status Quo and Future of Community Development in Colleges and Universities.” He also moder- ated a panel session on “Innovative Tools for Community Development.”
Currently Gauvin serves on the board for directors for the CDS, co-chair of the finance committee, and a member of the editorial board for the “Journal of the Community Development Society.”
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