Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

2018 Mitchell Center Awards Mitchell Center Sustainability Awards have been presented annually since 2013. The awards are designed to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Mitchell Center members, researchers, students and external partners who have helped advance the values and principles at the heart of the Mitchell Center’s stakeholder-engaged, solutions-focused, interdisciplinary projects and partnerships. Below, […]

Blending social and ecological research helps focus wildlife species recovery efforts Carly Sponarski spent much of her early academic career barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. It wasn’t until her Master’s degree that she finally branched off in a direction that matched her research and conservation interests. Early on, Sponarski, now an assistant […]

UMaine Researcher, Undergraduate, Partners Awarded Grant for MidCoast Composting Project As part of an interdisciplinary team examining ways to reduce food waste in Maine, a researcher in the UMaine School of Economics and his undergraduate student assistant were recently awarded $17,000 from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) towards a start-up composting program in […]

In January 2017, the Mitchell Center launched the Strengthening Coastal Economies project as part of the Diana Davis Spencer Partnership for a Sustainable Maine. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to inspire and equip a new generation of engaged, entrepreneurial leaders by providing students with transformative, hands-on experiences in the power of innovative partnerships to create a brighter […]

Gabriella Marafino did her undergraduate work in biology and applied conservation at George Mason University. She chose UMaine to get her feet wet in the social science side of things by joining the dual-degree Master’s program in Marine Biology and Marine Policy. Working with Mitchell Center faculty fellows Jessica Jansujwicz, Gayle Zydlewski, and Teresa Johnson, Marafino is part […]

Decisions about whether to build, remove or modify dams involve complex trade-offs that are often accompanied by social and political conflict. A group of researchers from the natural and social sciences, engineering, arts and humanities has joined forces to show how, where and when it may be possible to achieve a more efficient balance among […]

Following the 2018 Mitchell Lecture on Sustainability, Senator Mitchell spent an hour talking with students at the Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions. A wide range of questions were asked and topics discussed, including the Senator’s pivotal role in brokering the Good Friday Agreement of the Northern Ireland peace process. But kicking off the discussion was […]

Master’s student and marine resource scientist Hannah Horecka divides her time between UMaine and the state’s Department of Marine Resources Hannah Horecka graduated from UMaine in 2012 with a Bachelor’s degree in Marine Science. A student in the Honor’s College, Horecka’s honor’s thesis was on biotoxin trends (such as red tide) in Cobbscook Bay—research that […]

On September 20, the Mitchell Center held a workshop on Cooperation Science facilitated by Tim Waring and Linda Silka, both of the UMaine School of Economics & the Mitchell Center. Twenty faculty and graduate students from a broad array of interdisciplinary fields like Biology and Ecology, Cooperative Extension, and Marine Science attended the three-hour workshop. Waring introduced […]

In mid-October, Bridie McGreavy of UMaine’s Department of Communication and Journalism and the Mitchell Center and Karen Bieluch of Dartmouth College and the Mitchell Center conducted a three-hour workshop designed to help researchers better connect their research with decision-making at the local, state and federal level through team-based research. The workshop combined insights from science […]