Camden Conference recognizes two UMA students with essay awards

AUGUSTA — The Camden Conference recently announced that University of Maine at Augusta students received the first and second place awards in its essay contest. The college and university student essay contest theme was “Is This China’s Century?”
Pamela Schaltenbrand placed first with her essay, “China’s Belt and Road Initiative.” Melissa Verburgt was awarded the second prize for her essay, “The Future of U.S.- China Trade: Partners or Opponents.?” Both student attend classes through UMA’s center locations; Schaltenbrand at the UMA Rockland Center and Verburgt at UMA Ellsworth Center. Both essays can be found at www.camdenconference.org/student-contests/.
According to the Camden Conference, “This award was established by Captain Bill Taylor, a longtime supporter of the Camden Conference and of education programming. Taylor had a distinguished career as a Naval officer, an Academic in Warfare Science, and director of Long Range Strategic Planning for Anti-Submarine Warfare at the Pentagon. His career took him all over the world during various wars, and his creative influence on Naval Warfare lingers.”
The Camden Conference was founded in 1987 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization whose mission is to foster informed discourse on world issues.