Shaw Fellows

The Program

The Office of Innovation launched the Shaw Innovation Fellows Program in 2021 with the generous support of philanthropist and entrepreneur, David Shaw. The program is designed to catalyze student innovation on campus by providing mentorship, curriculum, professional development opportunities, and stipend support. Shaw Fellows work with internal and external partners to create solutions that address social, environmental, and economic challenges facing our communities. This year, six Senior Shaw Fellows from across UNE’s academic programs each receive $5,000 to lead an innovative project in their area of interest. A second group of students form the Shaw Innovation Team, with each team member receiving $1,000 to collaborate on an interdisciplinary capstone project. As part of the program, students have the opportunity to meet David Shaw as well as other local and regional innovators via specially designed workshops.

Meet the Team

Shaw Senior Fellows

The response to our call for applications was unprecedented and we are delighted to announce the Shaw Senior Fellows for 2024-25. These students have demonstrated exceptional drive and passion and will each receive $5,000 to lead an innovative project this school year:

Ruth Ellis ’26 (Environmental Science, Geographic Information Systems)
Hailey Haynes-Davis ’27 (Marine Biology)
Tyler Janik ’27 (Aquaculture and Aquarium Science, Geographic Information Systems)
Cloey Parlapiano ’25 (Environmental Science, Aquaculture and Aquarium Science)
Isabel Ryan ’27 (Environmental Science)
Grace Sprague ’25 (Communications and Media Arts, Psychology)

Shaw Innovation Team

A second group of Shaw Fellows form the Shaw Innovation Team, comprised of students from diverse backgrounds and interests who have demonstrated creative thinking, curiosity and teamwork. These students will be trained in design thinking and real-world problem-solving, and they will learn how to generate wild ideas, prototype, experiment, and use empathy to become more innovative thinkers and doers. Students will each receive a $1,000 stipend and work as a team to apply their change-making skills to select capstone projects. In 2024-25 the Innovation Team is working to bring a nutrition bar to market that uses ingredients such as seaweed and honey sourced from UNE’s campus. Read about the SeaMade Bar in the news.

Ryan Garrant ’25 (Aquaculture and Aquarium Science)
Vaughn Jennings ’28 (Marine Entrepreneurship)
Cloey Parlapiano ’25 (Environmental Science, Aquaculture and Aquarium Science)
Sarah Rossignol ’27 (Nutrition, Public Health)
Jayden Schoppee ’28 (Nutrition, Athletic Training)
Jasmin Townsend-Ng ’26 (Marine Biology)

Our Sponsor: David Shaw

David Evans Shaw

CEO, Blackpoint

A prominent American business and social entrepreneur with extensive global leadership experience in science-based companies, investment management and social impact NGOs, David Shaw has helped build more than a dozen successful technology companies as a CEO or board member. These companies, employing more than 15,000 people worldwide, harness modern science to address important needs in healthcare and other markets. Early in his career, Shaw helped build a leading consulting firm in food and agriculture.

Shaw’s career has included extensive public service in science, arts, conservation and public policy. He has served on the faculty of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the advisory board of the Center for Public Leadership. He is a founding director of the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum, Chair-emeritus of The Jackson Laboratory, Treasurer emeritus of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he has been a global leader in science-based conservation of nature as a trustee of the National Park Foundation, as founding chair of the Sargasso Sea Alliance and Aspen High Seas Initiative, as a Patron of Nature to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, as a member of Ocean Elders, and as founder of Second Century Stewardship for America’s national parks. He has served on the board of Maine Medical Center, Hurricane Island Outward Bound, the scientific advisory board of Discovery Communications, a Fellow of The Explorers Club, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Leadership Council of the Service Year Alliance, and advisory councils of Sustainable Harvest International, the Telluride Science and Research Center, Nautilus Media, Waterbear Media, Visby Medical, and The Future of Cities. He supports his advocacy interests with the production of short form films, and is a resident of the State of Maine.

Thank you to our supporters!

We extend our thanks to David Evans Shaw and the Shaw Family for their support of student innovation at UNE and beyond. Their bold vision is creating ecosystem of student entrepreneurship and innovation at UNE, the University of New Hampshire and the University of Southern Maine and we look forward to seeing these student innovators make a difference in their respective fields!