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The University of Maine at Fort Kent is pleased to welcome Kennedy “Ned” Rubert-Nason, Ph.D., as the new assistant professor of chemistry. Dr. Rubert-Nason replaces retiring professor Dr. Rameen Aryana who taught chemistry at UMFK since 1986.  

Dr. Rubert-Nason received his doctoral degree in molecular and environmental toxicology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He has taught chemistry and ecotoxicology, among other subjects, for more than a decade.  

“The specialized experience that Dr. Rubert-Nason will bring to our nursing and environmental science programs will be of great benefit to our students,” said UMFK President John Short. “As we look to grow these programs further, his broad research into tetracycline antibiotics as well as environmental impacts will create timely and interesting topics for his students to study.”

“I believe that the cultivation of an inclusive classroom community in which students are comfortable exchanging ideas is essential to learning,” said Dr. Rubert-Nason. “My teaching style emphasizes constructive social interactions that support community, collaboration, openness, and respect for the individual.”

Dr. Rubert-Nason was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Teaching Fellow at the University of Wisconsin – Madison and there he developed and taught science courses using student-centered pedagogical methods focused on specific competency outcomes. He has published numerous articles on the effects humans have on the environment, including works covering how antibiotics influence microbes in freshwater fish farms.

“I focus my teaching on projects that engage and train undergraduate students to be literate scientists, and foster collaboration among faculty from different departments,” said Dr. Rubert-Nason. “I hope to develop students’ ability to work independently and collaboratively.”

For more information about the sciences at UMFK, call 834-7500 or go to www.umfk.edu.