Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Speaker: Andy Cutko, Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy in Maine From forests to fisheries and wildlife to waters, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Maine is committed to understanding how Maine’s ecosystems work and the many ways in which they’re vitally connected to Maine people. Andy Cutko will describe some of TNC’s multi-faceted efforts in Maine, […]

Speakers: Faculty from UMaine's NSF Research Traineeship Team Global and local changes in environmental, social, and climatic conditions increasingly stress, alter, or degrade ecosystems and human quality of life despite continued efforts to develop integrated natural and human models that help support effective decision-making. In response, many organizations focus on managing for resilient human-natural systems—those […]

Alice R. Kelley, Associate Research Professor, Climate Change Institute & Instructor, School of Earth and Climate Sciences, University of Maine Bonnie Newsom, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Maine The Maine Midden Minders is a volunteer, citizen science organization being developed with the support of the Senator George Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions and […]

Speakers: Food Waste Reduction Student Team This work highlights the benefits of approaching food waste management from an interdisciplinary perspective. While there have been many efforts to combat wasted food, the problem is complex and solutions have remained elusive. This research group brings together different disciplines (nursing, anthropology, economics, biomedical and civil engineering) across educational […]

Speaker: Rob Riley, President, Northern Forest Center This discussion will explore the relationship Maine’s communities have had with the forest, how it continues to evolve as regional and global economies impact traditional industries, and ways the Northern Forest Center is renewing pride, purpose and vitality of these communities to create continuous opportunity in a new […]

Speaker: Billy Helprin, Director, Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary, Somesville, Maine The Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary was established in 1985 with a mission of wildlife habitat conservation and ecological education in the Somes Pond watershed, but today reaches well beyond with its education and research work. Long term and more recent research and monitoring projects include loon breeding […]

Please visit the conference web page for details.

Speaker: Kent Messer, S. Hallock du Pont Professor of Applied Economics, University of Delaware Popularized by the best-selling book “Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness”, governments around the globe have developed “nudge squads” in an effort to  use behavioral science to achieve pro-social behavioral change at little or no cost. Most of the […]

Co-sponsor: UMaine Dept. of History Brian Payne Associate Professor, History and Canadian Studies, Bridgewater State University What role does “heritage” play in environmental protection? Because of the blended landscape of New England, environmental stewardship must take into greater account human history in regional planning. As such, historians can play an effective role in environmental and resource stewardship […]

Speaker: Amanda Bertana, Postdoctoral Fellow, Scholars Strategy Network, Maine Chapter Today as climate change makes areas less hospitable (specifically along global coastlines), relocation is becoming an increasingly more viable adaptation strategy. In fact, whole communities have begun planning to relocate, or have relocated. At the national level, some governments have started to draft relocation policies. […]