Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions

Quixada Moore-Vissing Civic Researcher and Community Engagement Designer In a time when many of us just want to silence the noise of uncivil, polarized national politics, local democracy offers a hopeful alternative. People who live as neighbors in the same town or region have an opportunity to demand that local politics and civic life in […]

Amanda Klemmer, Assistant Research Professor of Food-web Ecology, School of Biology & Ecology, UMaine The productivity of Maine’s coastal ecosystems is a keystone of the state’s natural resources based economy, with Maine’s coastal fisheries and tourism both billion-dollar industries. Sustainably managing these growing industries, to shepherd them through an uncertain ecological future, requires a mechanistic […]

Sarah & Bryce Hach Founders, Maine Food for Thought The restaurant scene in Portland has become globally renowned for its’ innovation and quality. But there is also an important and vibrant story behind the plate that interconnects the land, the sea and the people of Maine, that have made it, over time, into the celebrated […]

Keynote Speaker: Senator George J. Mitchell This event is free and open to all. Tickets are required and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to reserve your ticket. In this lecture, Senator Mitchell will examine various economic, social and political factors that are contributing to the high level of polarization and […]

The Northern Maine Children’s Water Festival promotes hands on learning about water issues for fourth, fifth and sixth grade students and their teachers. Schools in Aroostook, Washington, Hancock, Piscataquis, Somerset, Penobscot, Waldo, Knox counties and the following northern Kennebec County towns: Clinton, Benton, Waterville, Winslow, Oakland, Albion, Rome, Belgrade, China and Vienna are eligible to […]

Speaker: Gayle Zydlewski, Director, Maine Sea Grant Gayle recently assumed the role as Director of the Maine Sea Grant College Program while retaining her faculty appointment with the School of Maine Sciences. Her research interests and experiences focus on interdisciplinary approaches to understanding how research results can be used by natural resource managers and others […]

Adam Daigneault, Assistant Professor, School of Forest Resources; Faculty Fellow, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions Linda Silka, Senior Fellow, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions How do we define resilience? What are the key attributes and drivers of resilient communities? How have natural-resource dependent communities responded to large socio-economic shocks? Adam and Linda will provide a […]

Speaker: Mark McLaughlin, Department of History, UMaine For many conservationists and environmentalists, the Holy Grail in terms of trying to make real and long-term change happen is effective engagement with […]

Spencer Meyer, Senior Conservationist, Highstead Spencer will share his passion for the new Sebago Clean Waters initiative, which is bringing local, regional and national stakeholders together to create new investments in clean drinking water, healthy forests, and community conservation in the Sebago region of Maine. This initiative is one of about 30 water funds around […]

Call for Abstracts Eight students will present five-minute talks on their sustainability research in Maine. Presenting students are listed below with abstracts: Parker Gassett, Marine Biology and Policy Putting Northeast ocean and coastal acidification in a context of water quality Northeast shellfish growers have not yet experienced the devastating shellfish die offs seen by West […]