UNITY – David Glenn-Lewin, an environmental scientist with 40 years in education, has been inaugurated as president of Unity College.

At Saturday’s ceremony, which coincided with Earth Day, Glenn-Lewin received a hand-carved maple walking stick in place of the traditional medallion that he said is conferred upon newly inaugurated presidents at most other schools.

“A walking stick is the symbol for this environmental college, and the symbolism of Earth Day is important to us,” Glenn-Lewin told the assembly at the Unity Centre for the Performing Arts.

Glenn-Lewin, who took over as Unity’s president last July, said the college community remains focused on the changing environment. The independent school in central Maine specializes in environmental sciences, natural resource management and wilderness-based outdoor recreation.

Glenn-Lewin said he is committed to studies in such areas as climate change, biodiversity, the high rate of species lost to extinction and the dangers of invading exotic plants such as milfoil and purple loose strife.

Looking back on his years of environmental study, he said learning is best served by a healthy skepticism. Change is a characteristic of natural systems, and human activity can affect that natural system on a global scale, he noted.

Acting Provost James Horan described Glenn-Lewin as an ecologist scholar, a teacher and an educational leader. He said the new college president grew up in Chicago and is a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team.

“Why is this wonderful?” Horan asked. “The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908. No one but a Cubs fan could land in Red Sox Nation and make us feel better.”