Coastal Conversations

Host: Catherine Devine

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

In this episode of Coastal Conversations, we feature a Schoodic Institute’s Sea to Trees podcast discussing the degradation occurring on Acadia’s summits, and a community-driven effort to bring vegetation back. The effort, called Save Our Summits, mobilized members of Acadia’s community to hike soil up two mountains in Acadia. But, what happens next? How is this soil put to work?

To answer this question we speak to Chris Nadeau, Climate Change Adaptation Scientist at Schoodic Institute and one of the creative minds behind Save Our Summits. We also talk to Save Our Summits volunteers and attendees, and we close with a conversation with Ivan Fernandez, Professor at University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute and School of Forest Resources, who addresses the challenges of preserving specific characteristics of ecosystems and the importance of resilience and adaptation in the face of climate change.

Coastal Conversations is supported by Maine Sea Grant in partnership with Schoodic Institute and The First Coast.

Guest/s:

Chris Nadeau, Climate Change Adaptation Scientist at Schoodic Institute.

Ivan Fernandez, Professor at University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute and School of Forest Resource.

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Host: Trevor Grandin

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

In this episode of Coastal Conversations, we feature Schoodic Institute’s podcast, Sea to Trees. We’re searching Acadia’s roads for amphibians in the dead of night and trapping small mammals in the park’s woods at the crack of dawn. Learn about two research projects seeking big answers to questions about the park’s smallest creatures. Help a spotted salamander cross the street and weigh a jumping mouse with two ecologists taking the pulse of Acadia National Park.

We search for frogs with and learn from Acadia Science Fellow Marisa Monroe. Hear from author Ben Goldfarb about the dangers that roads pose to amphibians and other animals. We join Dr. Brittany Slabach, Second Century Stewardship Fellow and College of the Atlantic professor, in Schoodic Woods to trap small mammals and learn about her research. And we hear from Bik Wheeler, wildlife biologist in Acadia National Park, about how Marisa and Brittany’s projects could influence management in the park.

Guest/s:
Marisa Monroe, graduate student and Acadia Science Fellow, University of Maine
Ben Goldfarb, author
Brittany Slabach, professor and former Second Century Stewardship Fellow, College of the Atlantic

FMI:
Maine Big Night
mainebignight.org/
Crossings by Ben Goldfarb
www.bengoldfarb.com/crossings
Little Box Project | Instagram
www.instagram.com/littleboxproject
Effect of road traffic on amphibian density by Lenore Fahrig, et al.
escholarship.org/content/qt22t1h3q1/qt22t1h3q1.pdf
Study finds salamanders are surprisingly abundant in northeastern forests
www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/study-finds-salamanders-are-surprisingly-abundant-northeastern-forests

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Host: Trevor Grandin

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

Guest/s:
Peter Howe – PhD Student and Acadia Science Fellow, University of Maine
Christian Halstead – earth resources information director, Maine Geological Survey
Jesse Wheeler – vegetation program manager, Acadia National Park

FMI:
The University of Maine Sewall Company Aerial Photograph Collection
digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/sewell_aerial/

Northern Forest Historical Atlas
ee-historical-atlas.projects.earthengine.app/view/historicalatlasproject

Maine Geological Survey Aerial Photography
www.maine.gov/dacf/mgs/explore/maps/airphotos/

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Host: Trevor Grandin

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

Guest/s:

Dr. Michael Kaspari
Bik Wheeler
Fiona Young

FMI:
Sea to Trees – Season 3, episode 2 – schoodicinstitute.org/sea-to-trees-season-3-episode-2/

Schoodic Notes – Bird Sounds of Acadia- schoodicnotes.blog/

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Host: Galen Koch

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

This month:

This program features an episode of Island Institute’s podcast, From the Sea Up. In the town of Cape Elizabeth, in Southern Maine, there’s one last strip of commercial access on the waterfront. This access, situated within Kettle Cove State Park beside neighboring Crescent Beach, is, at high tide, just wide enough to get a boat trailer into the water and launch a skiff to get to the mooring field. In the summertime, this access and the adjacent parking lot are heavily congested. A recent redevelopment plan by the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands has caused a lot of anxiety for commercial fishermen, who fear that the state will redirect recreational boating and public access from a small strip on Crescent Beach to the commercial zone at Kettle Cove State Park.

In this episode we hear from fishermen in the Cape Elizabeth Fishermen’s Alliance, who are self-advocating for their final piece of commercial access in this wealthy Maine town.

Guest/s:
Matthew Sturgis, Cape Elizabeth Town Manager
Dan Harriman, Cape Elizabeth Fisherman
Nate Perry, Cape Elizabeth Fisherman and Sea Farmer

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Host: Galen Koch

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

This month:

This program features an episode of Island Institute’s podcast, From the Sea Up. Nestled within an archipelago in Penobscot Bay, the towns of Stonington and Deer Isle share an island and a public school system, deep family ties, a culture rooted in commercial fishing and art, and, like much of the nation, a dire housing crisis. In these towns there are simply not enough places for working people to live. Over twenty years ago, a small group of passionate Islanders began brainstorming and researching one solution to the housing problem. In 2020 that group, Island Workforce Housing, broke ground on the construction of five homes, each containing two year-round rentals. This is just one solution to a monumental issue facing this island and other communities in Maine and around the country. 

In this episode, we dig into the domino effect of the housing crisis on a hyper-local level. A lack of housing options played a role in the 2021 closure of the Island Nursing Home, the shrinking population in the public school system, and the struggle for commercial fishermen to find reliable workers. We explore how housing affects not only the fabric of a community but also access to a working waterfront.

Guest/s:

Kathleen Billings, Stonington Town Manager
Linda Nelson, Stonington Economic and Community Development Director
Anna Woolsey, Wife of Ryan Woolsey, grew up in Stonington
Ryan Woolsey, Lobsterman, lives in Penobscot
Maggie Kirsch, Island Workforce Housing
Megan Dewey Wood, Island Workforce Housing
Henry Teverow, Island Workforce Housing

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Host: Natalie Springuel

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

This month:
What is a river herring? Why are there kids in the stream? And what does this all have to do with beavers? In this episode, we talk about river herring and the people that help them make it up stream. We are joined by Emily Farr and Sophie Chivers from the Gulf of Maine River Herring Network and Bucket Davis and Rusty Taylor, two fishermen who have dedicated immense amounts of time to taking care of these fish in their communities. We talk about the work that they do, the challenges the fish face, and how people can help.

Guest/s:

Kenneth (Bucket) Davis is from East Machias, Maine. He is a state representative, a town selectman, former commercial harvester, volunteer, and teacher.
Rustin (Rusty) Taylor is from Somesville, Maine. He is a commercial harvester and field assistant with the Somes Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary.
Emily Farr is the Senior Fisheries Program Manager at Manomet and co facilitates the Gulf of Maine River Herring Network.
Sophie Chivers is a recent graduate of College of the Atlantic where she first learned about river herring. She is currently an intern with the GOM RHN working on a project exploring river herring stewardship across the state of Maine.

FMI: Gulf of Maine River Herring Network Website: www.gomriverherringnetwork.org

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

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Host: Natalie Springuel
Other Credits: Keri Kaczor

Coastal Conversations: Conversations with people who live, work, and play on the Maine coast, hosted by the University of Maine Sea Grant Program.

This month:
Everyone can make a difference to address the issue of marine debris (or trash) that enters our oceans! Keri Kaczor of Maine Sea Grant hosts a conversation with members of a Community Action Coalition who’ve come together to help tackle marine debris pollution in the Gulf of Maine. Coalition members from Maine Marine Trades Association, Maine Island Trail Association, and Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association will share some impacts of marine debris on communities, wildlife and ecosystems in the Gulf of Maine, and simple steps we all can take to help prevent trash from entering our shared waterways. The work of this Marine Debris Community Action Coalition is funded by NOAA Sea Grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Join us, and tune in on Friday, September 27th at 4PM for this month’s Coastal Conversation – only on WERU community radio at 89.9 FM and streaming online at WERU.org. Coastal Conversations is supported by Maine Sea Grant in partnership with Schoodic Institute and The First Coast.

Guest/s:

Keri Kaczor, Maine Sea Grant
Stacey Keefer, Maine Marine Trades Association
Brian Marcaurelle, Maine Island Trail Association
Monique Coombs, Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association

FMI: Lovemainewaters.org 

About the hosts:

Natalie Springuel has hosted Coastal Conversation’s since 2015, with support from the University of Maine Sea Grant where she has served as a marine extension associate for 20 years. In 2019, Springuel received an award for Public Affairs programming from the Maine Association of Broadcasters for the Coastal Conversations show called “Portland’s Working Waterfront.” Springuel is passionate about translating science, sharing stories, and offering a platform for multiple voices to weigh in on complex coastal and ocean issues. She has recently enrolled in audio production training at Maine Media Workshop to dive deeper into making great community radio.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download