Fall 2020 Sustainability Talks

PumpkinFor many years, the Mitchell Center has hosted an innovative Sustainability Talks series during the fall and spring semesters. The goal of these talks is to provide students, faculty, citizens, and others with opportunities to learn about: 1) the multi-faceted nature of sustainability problems; 2) the value of connecting different forms of knowledge and know-how in efforts to understand and solve such problems; and 3) the ways in which partnerships between universities and diverse stakeholders can facilitate efforts to identify and implement useful solutions.

All talks are Mondays at 3pm and are available via Zoom. Registration is required for each talk. Please go to individual event pages to register. Many talks are recorded and can be found on our Vimeo site.

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September 14
What Can Walt Disney Teach Us About Sustainable Solutions?
Susanne Lee, Faculty Fellow, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions, UMaine
This talk is available on YouTube

September 21
Safety nets and bootstraps: Mainers and food insecurity in the time of COVID-19
Rachel Schattman, Assistant Professor, School of Food and Agriculture, UMaine
Kate Yerxa, Extension Professor, Cooperative Extension and School of Food and Agriculture, UMaine
This talk is available on YouTube

September 28
The Road to Maine’s New Climate Action Plan
Cassaundra Rose, Senior Science Analyst & Climate Council Coordinator, Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future
This talk is available on YouTube

October 5
The Future of Farming: Building Tools for Tech Savvy Farmers
Lily Calderwood, Extension Wild Blueberry Specialist and Assistant Professor of Horticulture, UMaine
This talk is available on YouTube

October 19
The Land-Sea Conjunction Junction…what’s the function? Connecting coastal places, people, and science
Lauren Ross, Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering, UMaine
Sean Smith, Associate Professor, Earth & Climate Sciences, Mitchell Center, UMaine
This talk is available on YouTube

October 26
Waste Land to Portfolio: How timberland was transformed from a resource to be mined – to equity worth buying
Dave Edson, Board of Directors, James W. Sewall Company; Advisory Board, Mitchell Center
This talk is available on YouTube

November 2
Stories from the Sea: Fishing Communities Revealed
Natalie Springuel, Marine Extension Associate, Maine Sea Grant, College of the Atlantic
This talk is available on YouTube

November 9
Maine Can Lead in Fair Planning for Addressing Climate Change: Steps in an Equity Assessment
Linda Silka, Senior Faculty Fellow, Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions
Sara Kelemen, Graduate Student, Plant, Soil and Environmental Science
This talk is available on YouTube

November 16
Cultivating Ecological Virtues
Don Beith, Assistant Professor of Environmental Philosophy, UMaine
This talk is available on YouTube

November 23
Unkicking the can: How community development can make a difference now
David Milan, Director of Community Development, Town of Orono, Maine
This talk is available on YouTube

November 30
Sustainable Water Treatment – Moving from Victorian Era Technology to Nanotechnology
Onur Apul, Assistant Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
This talk is available on YouTube