ORONO — Brunswick’s Valerie Smith recently received the 2013 Outstanding Graduating Student award at the University of Maine.

Smith, daughter of Roger and Lynne Smith, graduated May 11 with a bacherlor’s degree in chemistry and minors in spanish and premedical studies. She has been accepted to Tufts University Medical School.

In addition to participating in numerous clubs and school-sponsored organizations, Smith also was a member of the university’s Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

For two years, Smith studied with mentor and chemistry professor Carl Tripp, to develop a mercury-sensing detector that does not require test materials to be purified.

RICHMOND, Ind. — Emily Bell- Hoerth, an Earlham College junior, studied in New Zealand during the spring semester as part of an Earlham off-campus study program. The New Zealand program focuses on environmental studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. The program includes student internships and a faculty seminar. Bell-Hoerth is a daughter of Mary Ellen Bell of Bath and Thomas Hoerth of Gray.