The Maine Journal of Conservation and Sustainability

By Eleanore Allan-Rahill   Glacial Humanity explores the themes of memory, value systems, and change through the lens of glacial landscapes. This collection reflects on what the natural world can teach us about being human: the importance of moving slowly, being in community, knowing individual strength, studying the past, and considering many factors of influence. […]

By Cassian Smith   Growing up in New England on the borders of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, I often found myself staring out the windows, watching the birds pick at the feeders; among them were blue jays, goldfinches, cardinals, robins, and doves. Aided by a grandfather’s stolen field guide, I started to recognize the […]

By Benjamin Thorne   This poem owes its genesis to the quite literal discovery of the titular cup while on a nature walk, which made me think about the long-term effects of plastics in our habita, as well as what archeologists of the future might glean from such an artifact about our culture; this in […]

By Brenda McGuinness   I feel like I have been chasing an opportunity to see a puffin in real life my whole life. I finally got to see my first puffin in Iceland in April 2024 while visiting there with my family. Despite being told by locals that we were a little early to see […]

By Andrea Lani   The water is dark coppery brown where it’s shaded by trees, silvery blue where it mirrors the sky, and golden green where it reflects the sunlit crowns of pines. It appears almost perfectly still, though now and then minute ripples radiate outward where a needle has dropped onto its surface, and […]

By Emma Hallee   Introduction: Cultural and Economic Importance When people think of Maine, they think of its cold winters, thick forests, unique coasts, and its lobster. Throughout Maine’s history and landscape, the lobster has been an identifiable feature of the state’s culture. Whether on a pair of socks, a sweatshirt, or an ornament, the […]

By Sarina Martin   Replenished is a monoprint of rainbow trout, which is an introduced species to Maine. Currently, rainbow trout is controlled and stocked by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. As the species is favorable with Maine anglers, the continued stocking of rainbow trout is expected to be increased. However, stocking […]

By Sarina Martin   Plume is a monoprint of a barn owl, a rare species in Maine. This piece was created to represent nature in a full range of colors. These colors are based on the underlying hues that make up the shadows and light of the feathers beyond the color palette of the animal […]

By Erin Grabe   My name is Erin Grabe, and I am a senior undergraduate student majoring in Social Work, with a minor in Sociology. During the fall 2025 semester, I was selected to participate in the University of Maine’s Student Environmental Research Team. This one-credit class included a field research and overnight trip to […]

By Strix Kugler   This digital piece illustrates the impact that humans have on the natural world through the desire to have nature serve human aesthetics. I aimed to create a winter scene that was geometric and contained highly saturated colors to form an artificial forest. The geometric forms are intended to contrast with the […]