Advancing Maine’s Community Network for Energy and Climate Resilience

(Co-developing local sustainability solutions within statewide coalition-building)

Sponsor: Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Team Members

  • Sharon Klein, Associate Professor, School of Economics, UMaine (team leader)
  • Caroline Noblet, Associate Professor, School of Economics, UMaine
  • Cressica Brazier, MAINECAN Research Associate, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, UMaine,
  • Jasmine Lamb, PhD student, Ecology & Environmental Science, UMaine

Key Partners

Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Team (WSET)

  • Penobscot Nation – Kelsey Flores, Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Coordinator
  • Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians – Sharri Venno, Environmental Planner
  • Mi’kmaq Nation – Shannon Hill, Environmental Health Director
  • Sipayik Resilience Committee – Jasmine Lamb, Co-Director

Community Sustainable Energy Team (CSET)

  • Town of Millinocket – Amber Wheaton, Community Initiatives Director
  • Town of Van Buren – Luke Dyer, Town Manager
  • Eastport Energy Committee – Pete Lehmann, Eastport Energy Navigator
  • Veteran’s Memorial Library, Patten – Julie Buhler, Director
  • Town of Lincoln – Ruth Birtz, Economic Development Administrator
  • Cobscook Institute, Trescott Township – Dylan Pardue, Director of Information Technology and Systems

Maine community-led Energy and Climate Action Network (MAINECAN) Members

  • A Climate To Thrive – Johannah Blackman, Executive Director
  • Center for an Ecology-Based Economy – Richy Ainsworth, Associate Director
  • WindowDressers – Jessica Williams, Executive Director
  • Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments – Catherine Mardosa, Community Resilience Coordinator
  • Sunrise County Economic Council – Tanya Rucosky, Community Resilience Coordinator
  • Maine Climate Action Now – Amy Eshoo, Director
  • Resilient Communities – Gabe McPhail, Principal
  • Bangor Area Comprehensive Transportation System – Maddie Jensen, Planner
  • Rockport Conservation Commission – Meggan Dwyer, Chair
  • Volunteer Maine – Lucy Martin, Programs Officer Special Volunteer Initiatives

“While many communities and Tribal Nations want to reduce fossil fuel use, adopt sustainable energy practices, and respond to a changing climate in ways that are sustainable for the future, they often need support to reach those resilience goals and to find connection and synergies in solutions to often disparate seeming problems,” said Sharon Klein, an associate professor in the School of Economics and Mitchell Center faculty fellow. 

That’s why for the past decade, Klein and her team at UMaine have dedicated themselves to creating a statewide network called the Maine community-led Energy & Climate Action Network (MAINECAN). MAINECAN’s 150-plus members include community groups, local governments, Wabanaki Nations, non-profit organizations, state agencies, businesses, and individuals. 

This two-year project will help to strengthen and grow this robust network. 

One of the project’s objectives is to better understand how to assist a community in meeting their resilience goals, particularly those with high social vulnerability. To achieve this, the project will fund one master’s student and a doctoral student, Jasmine Lamb. Both will help collect and analyze survey and interview data  from MAINECAN members who have served as incubators for many of Klein’s efforts — the Wabanaki Sustainable Energy Team (WSET) and the Community Sustainable Energy Team (CSET). This data will be rounded out using existing surveys and additional community and Tribal responses.

Klein’s team will use these results to help inform MAINECAN members about where to direct resources and to guide MAINECAN outreach to under-resourced communities. “The research will also benefit people and entities beyond Maine by providing best practices, templates, and other information to guide local resilience actions more broadly,” said Klein.  

The funding will also advance Lamb’s innovative ethnographic research of the Sipayik Resilience Committee (SRC), whose mission is to advance energy sovereignty and climate resilience for members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. Lamb is a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and founder of the SRC. 

Several new initiatives are also anticipated including development of resources to train home-energy coaches and support for communities seeking climate vulnerability assessments. Additionally, the project will help MAINECAN recruit new members, improve and maintain their website, and support the annual meeting held at the Maine Sustainability & Water Conference.