Volunteers needed to document sea level impact on shell middens, Boothbay Register reports
Boothbay Register published a Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust news release about Maine Midden Minders, a new initiative working with individuals and conservation groups to develop a database of erosion conditions at shell middens around the state. Based at the University of Maine and funded by Maine Sea Grant, Midden Minders is managed by geoarchaeologist Alice Kelley, who initiated the program. Kelley is an instructor in the UMaine School of Earth and Climate Science and research associate professor in the Climate Change Institute. Coastal Rivers is seeking volunteer Midden Minders to make regular visits to middens to take measurements and record changes through observations and photographs, according to the article. Volunteers also will document storm impacts, which will help researchers and resource managers understand threats to the middens and plan for data rescue and conservation, the article states. The first annual Midden Minders volunteer training will be offered 3–7 p.m. June 18 at Coastal Rivers’ Education Center in Damariscotta.