University of New England

8 UNE faculty members promoted

BIDDEFORD/PORTLAND - Eight faculty members at the University of New England have recently been promoted. UNE President Danielle Ripich will honor the faculty members at two receptions held on the Westbrook College and University Campuses.

Dennis Leighton, Ph.D., of Scarborough, promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions.

In addition to teaching, Professor Leighton is UNE's faculty athletic representative and was recently elected president of the Faculty Athletic Representative Association (FARA) for the 2007-2008 year. He has served on numerous University committees, including the Presidential Search Committee from 2004 - 2006.

His current research looks at motion changes in the lower extremities associated with different footwear, specifically how the gait of women changes when wearing heels of different heights. He earned his undergraduate degree from Springfield College, received two masters' degrees in physical education and physical therapy, and earned his Ph.D. in physical therapy from the University of St. Augustine.

Amy Coha, M.S.W., of South Portland, promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in the clinical track in the Department of Social Work, College of Health Professions.

Before coming to UNE in 2000, Professor Coha worked for 10 years as a guest lecturer and field instructor at the University of Michigan, School of Social Work. She earned her bachelor's degree in South Asian Studies from the State University of New York and her master's degree in social work from the University of Michigan.

She and collaborator Ellen Ridley from Family Crisis Services recently received a two-year research grant from the Bingham Foundation that funds their project, "Domestic Violence and Mental Health Counseling: Investigating Safety Outcomes." The primary goal of this project is to research the experiences of 120 victims/ survivors of domestic violence who received mental health counseling during or after an abusive relationship.

Nona Spear, M.S.N., of Windham, promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in the clinical track in the Department of Nursing, College of Health Professions.

Professor Spear came to UNE in 1995 after two years working as a faculty member at the Central Maine Medical Center School of Nursing. Prior to that she served as a nursing consultant with the Maine Diabetes Control Project. Apart from teaching at UNE, Spear is lab coordinator for the Nursing Department and is chair of the Institutional Review Board on Human Subject Research. Her forthcoming research will look at what motivates people to become physically active, such as motivational issues in the environment.

Spear holds her bachelor's of science in nursing from St. Joseph's College and her master's of science in nursing from Boston University.

Christine (Stine) Brown, Ph.D., of Kennebunk, promoted from associate professor to professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Brown is an invertebrate physiologist who began working in UNE's Department of Life Sciences in 1993. She served as director of the Marine Science Education and Research Center from 2000 to 2004, and as associate director from 2004 to 2005. Brown earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Bowdoin College and her doctorate in biology from the University of Oregon. Brown's scholarly research focuses on the physiological ecology of marine invertebrates.

She is currently looking at the digestion in juvenile crustaceans and how this may relate to food resource partitioning among species that live within the same habitat.

Paul Burlin, Ph.D., of Portland, promoted from associate professor to professor in the Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Burlin came to UNE in 1990 and is currently interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. His specialty is 19th-century American diplomatic history and he has published a book titled Imperial Maine and Hawaii: Interpretive Essays in the History of the Nineteenth Century American Expansion, which traces connections between Maine and Hawai'i to explore American imperialism in the 19th-century.

His is currently researching Brazilian intellectuals perspective of American history, culture and society. Burlin earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Heidelberg College and his doctorate in American History from Rutgers University.

Richard Peterson, Ph.D. of Portland, promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies, College of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Peterson came to UNE in the fall of 2002 from Antioch College where he taught Environmental Studies. Besides teaching, he is co-chair of UNE's Environmental Council and has been a member of numerous search committees on campus.

Born in the village of Wasolo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Peterson is currently working with colleagues in Kenya at Maseno University to create future educational linkages between the two universities. He is also researching community-based conservation and natural resource management in the Kisumu area of the Lake Victoria Basin. Peterson earned his bachelor's degree in International Studies from Michigan State University and his doctorate in environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Jane O'Brien, Ph.D., OTR/L, of Waterboro, promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health Professions.

Professor O'Brien is the graduate and research coordinator in the Occupational Therapy Department, a position she has held since 2002. Before coming to UNE in the fall of 2000, O'Brien taught at the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of Illinois at Chicago. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Maine at Orono and her doctorate in exercise science from the University of South Carolina.

O'Brien is currently interested in examining the physiological effects of purposeful versus non-purposeful activity in people with autism and she is working to develop and evaluate programs in the community for children with special needs. 

Ian Meng, Ph.D. of Portland, promoted from assistant professor to associate professor in the Department of Physiology, College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Professor Meng came to UNE in 2003 from the University of California, San Francisco's Department of Neurology. He received his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Brown University and completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship in neurology from the University of California, San Francisco. In 2005 Meng received a five-year, $400,000 federal grant to support his research into the mechanisms underlying headache pain, leading the way for improved treatments.

His current research focuses on migraine and medication overuse headaches (sometimes referred to as rebound headaches), studying the changes that take place in the brain following the chronic use of headache medications.

(Press release issued Dec. 12, 2006)