Trevor Spangle, of Lebanon, was recently awarded research project funding to hike a 362-mile Oregon trail this summer, then write about the journey.

Spangle is a junior at the University of Maine at Farmington and majors in creative writing. He was one of 18 students at the university's undergraduate research council to be awarded funding as part of the Spring and Summer 2008 Michael D. Wilson Research Scholars program. The funding is intended to underwrite expenses and encourage continuing academic investigation.

He plans to hike the 362-mile Oregon Coast trail this summer, with the hope of using the personal challenge to learn more about himself and his relationship to the state of Oregon.

Spangle plans to use this experience as a basis for his first book-length work