Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

The Politics of a Sustainable Coast: Money, Science, Democracy, and Climate in Southeastern Louisiana Speaker: Michael A. Haedicke, Associate Professor, Drake Co-sponsors: Dept. of Sociology, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center Given its low elevation and high rate of subsidence, coastal Louisiana is particularly vulnerable to the projected effects of climate change. This presentation will examine […]

Speaker: Tony Grassi, sustainability entrepreneur Tony will talk about sustainability in practice as he and his wife Sally rehabilitated an old mill in Freedom Maine, restored hydropower at the old dam and helped in the revitalization of the Village of Freedom. His talk will include the complications, pitfalls and rewards of investing in sustainability. For […]

A Conversation about Decision Support Tools What are they? When are they useful? What problems might they solve? An interdisciplinary panel discussion Participants: Linda Silka, Senior Faculty Fellow, Mitchell Center (facilitator) Adam Daigneault, Assistant Professor, Forest, Conservation, and Recreation Policy Jessica Jansujwicz, Research Assistant Professor, Wildlife, Fisheries & Conservation Biology Sam Roy, Postdoctoral Researcher, Mitchell […]

Eight students will present five-minute talks on their sustainability research in Maine. Selected Presentations: Graduate Responses of potato varieties to Dickeya dianthicola and Pectobacterium parmentieri that cause blackleg and soft rot Nayara Fabiola Marangoni, School of Food and Agriculture Degradation of the Herbicide Atrazine from Drinking Water using Photocatalysis Matthew A. Moyet, Ecology and Environmental […]

Speakers: Afton Hupper, Taylor Lange, Tim Waring, Local Food Lab, UMaine Sustainable solutions are not always win-win. The hardest sustainability challenges are social dilemmas in which the best outcome for individuals (e.g. more comfortable lifestyle) conflicts with the best outcome for the group (e.g. avoiding overuse of environmental resources and natural disasters). But social dilemmas […]

Dirty Weeds Done Dirt Cheap: Coupling weed ecology and economics to aid farmer decision-making Speaker: Sonja Birthisel, PhD Student, Ecology & Environmental Sciences, UMaine Weeds are a major economic concern for farmers worldwide. The State of Maine is home to a growing population of beginning organic farmers, for whom weeds are especially challenging. Organic farmers […]

The Gill-Oxygen Limitation Theory: Origin, Scope and Utility in Understanding Global Warming Impacts on Fish Speaker: Dr. Daniel Pauly, University of British Columbia Professor, PI: Sea Around Us Project There is need for a broad guiding theory based on first principles to interpret the many ways that fishes (and invertebrates) are affected by increasing temperatures […]

Sustainability on the Front Lines of Climate Change: Inside a UMaine Travel Study Course Speakers: Brandon Lieberthal, Postdoctoral Researcher, Civil and Environmental Engineering, UMaine Allison Gardner, Assistant Professor, Biology & Ecology, UMaine A complex dual relationship exists between climate change and sustainable development. Through its detrimental effects on food security, fresh water access, and human […]

The Puzzle of Making the Local Food Movement Sustainable: The Challenge of the Supply Chain UMaine Farm to Institution Team Speakers: Mark Haggerty, Linda Silka, Stephanie Welcomer, Melissa Ladenheim and Michaela Murray Some of the most important questions facing the local food movement in Maine relate to sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. One solution has […]

Crossing boundaries to better understand forest sustainability and the influence of forest certification Erin Simons-Legaard, Research Assistant Professor, School of Forest Resources, UMaine Multiple, often conflicting forest values are maintained only when management actions are integrated over large areas. To-date, two key mechanisms have been utilized as safeguards for forest sustainability in Maine: regulations (such […]